Skenes goes 7 no-hit frames with 11 K’s to join Nolan Ryan in history books

MILWAUKEE – In his final start before his first All-Star Game, Paul Skenes showed the Brewers and all of baseball why he’s going to the Midsummer Classic after just 11 games as a big leaguer. He struck out 11 Brewers over seven no-hit innings Thursday at American Family Field in a 1-0 win, which was secured by Yasmani Grandal’s RBI double in the seventh inning.

Those 11 strikeouts matched his career high with his first road start at Wrigley Field against the Cubs on May 17. It was also the eighth straight start in which Skenes struck out at least seven batters, the longest such streak in Pirates history.

Skenes did not allow a hit in that start at Wrigley Field, either. In National League/American League history, Skenes and Nolan Ryan are the only two pitchers to have multiple starts of 6 or more innings with 11 or more strikeouts and zero hits in the same season. Ryan did it in 1973 and, it should be noted, he completed the no-hitter in both of those efforts.

Skenes relied heavily on his four-seam fastball and his “splinker” — his sinker-splitter hybrid — for most of the afternoon, while mixing his slider to get four of his strikeouts. He needed 63 pitches to get through the first three innings, over which he struck out seven, but as we have seen through many of his recent starts, he made adjustments and got stronger as the outing progressed. That included a six-pitch seventh inning, letting him match his career high in innings pitched.

Skenes finished his afternoon with seven no-hit innings with 11 strikeouts, a walk and a hit batter. He threw 99 pitches, 65 for strikes.

​​It’s becoming increasingly likely there might be more history on the horizon for Skenes. He is a strong candidate to get the start for the NL side, and just four rookie pitchers have started the All-Star Game, per Elias: Hideo Nomo (1995), Fernando Valenzuela (’81), Mark Fidrych (’76) and Dave Stenhouse (’62). But Skenes would be even more unique, as his 11 starts would tie Fidrych for the fewest in a career entering an All-Star start.