odanny
Diamond Member
The legend of this kid is growing. If you have not seen him pitch yet you can see him start the All-Star game on Tuesday.
MILWAUKEE -- Paul Skenes has never thrown a no-hitter. Not in college. Not in high school. Attribute a lot of that to him being a catcher rather than a pitcher primarily while growing up.
Skenes came darn close Thursday at American Family Field, spinning seven no-hit innings while matching a career-high 11 strikeouts as the Pirates took the road series against the Brewers with a 1-0 win.
It wasn’t until the sixth or seventh inning when Skenes finally started to notice that he had a chance at history, partially because it was a tie game until Yasmani Grandal doubled home Jack Suwinski in the top of the seventh for the only run of the game.
If he had stopped to think about it, Skenes might have found out that he was making some history. This was his eighth straight start with at least seven strikeouts, the longest streak by a Pirates pitcher.
It was his second start of at least 11 strikeouts over six or more no-hit innings, joining Nolan Ryan as the only American/National League players to do that in the same season. Ryan did it in 1973 and, it should be noted, he completed the no-hitter in both of those efforts.
And, oh yeah, it lowered Skenes’ ERA to 1.90 with 89 strikeouts through 11 starts, the fifth-most K’s through 11 starts in MLB history since 1901. There’s a reason why this 22-year-old kid is an All-Star already.
MILWAUKEE -- Paul Skenes has never thrown a no-hitter. Not in college. Not in high school. Attribute a lot of that to him being a catcher rather than a pitcher primarily while growing up.
Skenes came darn close Thursday at American Family Field, spinning seven no-hit innings while matching a career-high 11 strikeouts as the Pirates took the road series against the Brewers with a 1-0 win.
It wasn’t until the sixth or seventh inning when Skenes finally started to notice that he had a chance at history, partially because it was a tie game until Yasmani Grandal doubled home Jack Suwinski in the top of the seventh for the only run of the game.
If he had stopped to think about it, Skenes might have found out that he was making some history. This was his eighth straight start with at least seven strikeouts, the longest streak by a Pirates pitcher.
It was his second start of at least 11 strikeouts over six or more no-hit innings, joining Nolan Ryan as the only American/National League players to do that in the same season. Ryan did it in 1973 and, it should be noted, he completed the no-hitter in both of those efforts.
And, oh yeah, it lowered Skenes’ ERA to 1.90 with 89 strikeouts through 11 starts, the fifth-most K’s through 11 starts in MLB history since 1901. There’s a reason why this 22-year-old kid is an All-Star already.
