Paul Skenes pitched seven no-hit innings against the Brewers

MILWAUKEE — In his final start before his first All-Star Game, Paul Skenes showed the Brewers and all of baseball why he was headed to the Midsummer Classic after just 11 games as a major leaguer. He struck out 11 Brewers over seven hitless innings Thursday at American Family Field in a 1-0 victory that was secured by Yasmani Grandal’s double in the seventh inning.

Those 11 strikeouts tied his career high in 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 also did not allow a hit in that start at Wrigley Field. 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 no hits in the same season. Ryan did it in 1973 and, it should be noted, he had a no-hitter in both of those attempts.

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

Skenes finished his afternoon with seven hitless innings, 11 strikeouts, one walk and one hit batter. He threw 99 pitches, including 65 strikes.

It’s increasingly likely that Skenes still has a historic role to play. He’s a strong candidate to start in the National League, and only four rookie pitchers have started in the All-Star Game, according to Elias: Hideo Nomo (1995), Fernando Valenzuela (’81), Mark Fidrych (’76) and Dave Stenhouse (’62). But Skenes would be even more unique, because his 11 starts would tie Fidrych for the fewest career starts before an All-Star start.