Pittsburgh Pirates star pitcher Paul Skenes threw 99 pitches in seven hitless innings during his team’s 1-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday, but manager Derek Shelton said that number isn’t why he pulled the starter before giving him a chance to finish the no-hitter.
“It really didn’t have anything to do with the pitch count,” he told report. “Everybody makes it about pitch counts. It was about where he was at. It was about trusting your eyes, trusting him. When I went and talked to him after that, I mean, he was tired. They did a good job of wearing him down.”
Ultimately, it is Shelton’s job to maximize Pittsburgh’s chances to win the game, and the visitors did just that.
Colin Holderman and Aroldis Chapman combined to pitch two scoreless innings to finish out the win even though the Brewers were finally able to get a hit after Skenes exited the contest.
Still, Skenes missing out on a chance to pitch a no-hitter was the bigger storyline than the result of one July baseball game.
The 22-year-old has been electric during his rookie season for the Pirates and would have had quite the career achievement during just his 11th career start if he did pitch a no-hitter. And, even though Shelton said the ace was tired, he appeared to be getting stronger as the game progressed.
After all, Skenes threw a grand total of six pitches in the seventh inning and still hadn’t reached the century mark at that point. He struck out 11 and had little trouble with the lineup of the first-place team in the National League Central.
In a testament to how incredible the rising star has been at the start of his career, this is the second time Skenes was lifted without giving up a hit and while striking out 11. He pitched six hitless frames and fanned 11 during a May 17 start against the Chicago Cubs before he was taken out with 100 pitches. of MLB.com noted Skenes joined the legendary Nolan Ryan as the only pitchers with multiple starts of six or more hitless innings with 11 or more strikeouts in the same season.
Ryan finished the no-hitters in 1973.
If Skenes continues to pitch like he has at the start of his career, he will likely have more opportunities in the future to actually finish the no-hitters.