The Pittsburgh Pirates pulled Paul Skenes from a no-hitter for the second time in just 11 career starts Thursday against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Skenes struck out 11 batters and only walked one on 99 pitches before being relieved to start the eighth inning by Colin Holderman, who immediately surrendered a leadoff hit to spoil the combined no-hit bid.
The Pirates also pulled Skenes after six hitless innings in his second career start May 17 against the Chicago Cubs. He’s the only pitcher in Baseball Reference‘s database to have multiple starts of six-plus innings with no hits allowed as a rookie.
Skenes earned the win as the Pirates’ bullpen protected the 1-0 lead. Holderman worked out of a jam in the eighth before closer Aroldis Chapman recorded the save.
The dominant outing lowered Skenes’ ERA to an impressive 1.90. The 22-year-old – recently named to the NL All-Star team – has struck out 89 batters while only walking 13 in 66 1/3 innings pitched.
