Paul Skenes presented an overwhelming final argument to start Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game.
The Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander pitched seven no-hit innings and struck out 11 Milwaukee Brewers in Thursday’s 1-0 win, capping a dominant 11-start run to begin his career, barely a year after he was selected with the first overall pick in the draft out of LSU.
It marked the second time he threw at least six no-hit innings and struck out 11, exceeding his outing in his second major league start against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan is the only other pitcher in major league history with two starts of at least six no-hit innings and 11 strikeouts in one season
Ryan accomplished that in 1973. Skenes’ feat capped a startling two months since making his major league debut on May 11.
Skenes, 22, improved his record to 6-0, lowered his earned-run average to 1.90 and his WHIP to 0.92, issuing just one walk and hitting another batter. Both came in the second inning, during which Skenes threw 27 pitches, endangering his chances for a lengthy outing.
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But Skenes leaned on his deadly three-pitch arsenal – a 99-mph fastball, 94 mph splitter and a putaway slider – to silence the Brewers, retiring the last 17 batters he faced after Milwaukee put two men on in the second.
Any hopes that the Pirates might produce a combined no-hitter were immediately dashed when Milwaukee’s Jake Bauers lined a single off reliever Colin Holderman to lead off the eighth inning. Skenes left with a 1-0 lead, and Holderman escaped a bases-loaded jam to maintain it.
It marked the third time he completed seven innings and on balance it was his finest start, mixing dominance and longevity to keep the no-hitter intact and the game scoreless until the Pirates scraped together a run in the bottom of the seventh.
Skenes was at 93 pitches through six innings, and Pirates manager Derek Shelton opted to let Skenes go out for the seventh. Shelton was rewarded: Skenes dispatched the Brewers on just six pitches, and with his 99 pitches falling shy of the career-high 107 Shelton had him throw in his last outing on July 5, stoked intrigue Skenes might see the eighth inning for the first time in his career.
But Shelton went to the bullpen to preserve the victory and the no-hitter, the latter evaporating quickly. Yet Pittsburgh still won for the eighth time in Skenes’ 11 starts.
‘He was tired,’ Shelton told reporters in Milwaukee. ‘Really didn’t have anything to do with pitch count. It was about trusting your eyes, trusting him. They did a good job wearing him down.’
Skenes heads to the All-Star Game on Tuesday, his numbers so far are about as staggering as the hype: 89 strikeouts in 66 1/3 innings, an 89-13 strikeout-walk ratio, and nine of 12 starts in which he completed at least six innings and gave up no more than two runs.
His 89 strikeouts rank fifth in major league history through 11 career starts, trailing Kerry Wood’s 98 in 1998. No. 2 on that list with 96 strikeouts is Hideo Nomo in 1995 – when Nomo started the most recent All-Star Game in Arlington, Texas.
It might be impossible for Major League Baseball to deny the smattering of extra hype Skenes starting the Midsummer Classic would afford; heck, it’s increasingly difficult to deny him the nod on merit.
Skenes’ 11 starts and 66 1/3 innings pitched are something of an incomplete grade relative to the National League’s top starters; Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Ranger Suarez, who leads qualified pitchers with a 2.58 ERA, has made 16 starts and pitched 108 innings; his teammate, Zack Wheeler, has a 2.70 ERA in 19 starts and 116 2/3 innings, a 76% increase over Skenes’ workload.
Of course, there’s no way to know what Skenes might have done had he been deemed major league-ready by Opening Day, nor what he’ll do in his last 15 or so starts this season.
But it’s pretty clear that any Skenes start is appointment viewing. And baseball’s biggest stage awaits next week.
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