Pirates Pitcher Paul Skenes' Best Performance Revealed
Paul Skenes was nothing short of dominant for the Pittsburgh Pirates en route to winning the 2024 National League Rookie of the Year.
But even in a season full of special performances from the first overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, one performance stood out above the rest for the Pirates. MLB.com picked the best performance for every team in the 2024 season and tabbed his performance against the Milwaukee Brewers on July 11 as Pittsburgh's best. Skenes pitched 7 no-hit innings and struck out 11 batters while walking just one on 99 pitches in a 1-0 win over the eventual NL Central champions.
"Skenes had otherworldly expectations coming into 2024, but few could have expected him to dominate the way he did out of the gate, earning an All-Star nod after just 10 Major League starts," Stumpf writes. "His 11th start made it clear that he was already one of the game’s best, striking out 11 over seven innings of no-hit ball. Skenes walked and hit a batter in the second, his lone blemishes as he would go on to retire the last 16 Brewers he faced. The Pirates would go on to win, 1-0, and Skenes was named the National League’s starting pitcher the next day."
The only trouble Skenes had came in the second inning with two outs when he hit Brewers Jake Bauers and walked Garrett Mitchell. The Pirates ace escaped the jam by striking out Andruw Monasterio and Skenes sat down the next 15 batters he faced, including seven via strikeout, to end his outing.
Skenes' outing against the Brewers marked the second time he exited a game without allowing a single hit. He also accomplished the feat on May 17 in the second start of his big league career when he pitched 6 shutout innings, struck out 11 and walked 1 batter against the Chicago Cubs to earn the first win of his career.
