Skenes will soon be joined by Nolan Ryan in record books with seven no-hit innings. 11 K’s

MILWAUKEE MILWAUKEE Paul Skenes has never thrown the no-hitter.

By Alex Stumpf

Jul 12, 2024 12:40 AM

MILWAUKEE – Paul Skenes has never pitched an inning of no-hit. In college, not even. In high school, not at all. You can attribute a large part of that to his being a catcher instead of an athlete in his early years growing in his youth.

Skenes came close on Thursday evening at American Family Field, spinning seven innings of no-hit and recording an all-time record of 11 strikeouts. Pirates defeated the road series of the series against the Brewers by taking the Brewers victory by 1-0.

It was not until the sixth in the seventh inning that Skenes came to realize he might be in a position to set a record, partially because it had been tied up to Yasmani Grandal hit his double and brought bring home Jack Suwinski in the seventh inning’s top to score the lone hit in the game.

“It’s really easy [not to think about the no-hitter] when it’s a 1-0 ballgame, I think, because one swing can tie it up,” Skenes stated. The Skenes. “It isn’t a huge problem until the final moments to the match. It’s all about being able to get outs. “

If he had taken an instant to think about the situation, he could be aware that he had set some historic records. It was the eighth consecutive start which he threw seven strikeouts. This was the longest streak of a Pirates pitcher. This was his second time starting a game which had at least 11 strike over at least six innings without a hit. He was a feat that joined Nolan Ryan as the only National League and American players to do this in the same period of time. Ryan made it happen in 1973. It is important to note that he pitched an inning of no-hit in both games.

And it decreased Skenes’ ERA to 1.90 with 89 strikeouts over 11 games. This is the fifth-highest number of strikeouts over 11 matches throughout MLB history, dating back to the year 1901. There’s a reason that this young man is destined to already be the all-star of baseball soon.

However, in the past, Pirates manager Derek Shelton had a conversation with Skenes in the seventh inning the tunnel that connects the dugout to the clubhouse, which is that Skenes is at all times in the inning — the pitcher started receiving hugs from his teammates. In the midst of it. Colin Holderman began getting loose in the bullpen. His day ended with 99 pitches.

“Yeah, definitely wanted to finish it,” Skenes said. “But throwing around every five days or six days, whatever you want to call it you must be aware of it. “

“It didn’t really have anything to do with the pitch count,” Shelton explained. Shelton. “Everyone knows that everyone is worried about pitch counts. The problem was where an individual was. This was all about placing your faith in the eyes of your opponent and trusting the player. When I tried to speak with him following the game, he seemed fatigued. They did a fantastic job of getting him down, and he gave the crowd everything he owned. “

Shelton stated that Skenes his pitching style as well as the way his body’s reaction to it were indications that he was tired. The Bucs observed during the 6th inning, and they let him continue for a second frame. Seventh inning lasted only six pitches because of two solid defensive plays of 2B Nick Gonzales up the middle and third baseman, however, the effort was sufficient to earn it an interesting day, as they had not observed Skenes looking tired before in the past.

It was due in major in large part due to Brewers slowing down with Skenes on the field for the first three innings, requiring the pitcher to pitch an average of 63 pitches. Even though he threw seven outs in the span of time it seemed like the pitch count could be lower than usual. But, a typical pattern that is seen throughout Skenes starting points is when he adapts his approach to become more efficient. The Brewers could help by speeding up his outs.

“Hitting against this guy with two strikes is death, you know?” stated Brewers Manager Pat Murphy. “There’s an edged sword in this situation. It’s not that easy to say “Well we’ll raise the amount of pitches. There’s a technique in this. He noticed it and changed his pitch. … The credit is his. “

Usually, it’s Skenes who sets out how the game will start and then rely more upon Grandal to make changes in the middle of games.

“Today, it worked out pretty well,” Grandal said. “Hopefully that he continues to work. “

Skenes was successful in completing seven innings with no hits, 11 strikeouts and just one walk, as well as one hit batter.

There’s a growing likelihood that there will be additional news stories to come regarding Skenes. Skenes is likely to become the first pitcher on In The NL side, however only four rookie pitchers have played during this year’s All-Star Game according to The Elias Sports Bureau: Hideo Nomo (1995), Fernando Valenzuela (’81), Mark Fidrych (’76) and Dave Stenhouse (’62). However, Skenes could be more interesting The 11 starts he made will match Mark Fidrych for the tiniest starts of his professional career before his All-Star performance (Fidrych also made two appearances as reliever).

Skenes acknowledges that he hasn’t even given any thought to the possibility of participating at the Midsummer Classic, but it could be an possibility.

“It would be a really unique and cool opportunity for the Pirates, for our organization,” Shelton said. “If this is the way they decide to do I’m sure that we’ll feel delighted. “