Paul Skenes had another impressive outing, striking out 11 batters over seven hitless innings as the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 1-0 on Thursday.
Skenes threw 99 pitches in his 11th start in the majors, with 65 of them strikes. The All-Star right-hander walked just one batter, lowering his ERA to 1.90.
“For me, it’s all about going out there and executing,” Skenes commented. “If that means strikeouts, then that’s what it looks like. The main thing is getting outs.”
Colin Holderman took over for Skenes (6-0) and gave up a leadoff single to Jake Bauers in the eighth inning, which was Milwaukee’s first hit of the game. The Brewers loaded the bases with two outs, but Holderman struck out William Contreras to escape the jam.
Aroldis Chapman closed out the game in the ninth inning, earning his fourth save and securing a two-hit shutout for Pittsburgh.
Despite a strong performance from Aaron Civale (2-7), who allowed only six hits through nearly seven innings for the NL Central-leading Brewers, they lost for the fifth time in seven games.
The Pirates scored the game’s lone run in the seventh inning. Ke’Bryan Hayes started the inning with a single, but was erased on a fielder’s choice hit by Jack Suwinski. Yasmani Grandal then doubled to right-center field, allowing Suwinski to score from first base with a headfirst slide.
Civale exited the game after issuing a walk to Andrew McCutchen in the seventh, and Bryan Hudson induced Bryan Reynolds to ground into a double play to end the inning.
Milwaukee’s first baserunner came in the second inning when Bauers was hit by a pitch with two outs. Garrett Mitchell followed with a walk, but Andruw Monasterio struck out to end the inning.
Skenes, drafted first overall last year from LSU, previously struck out 11 batters over six hitless innings in his second start for Pittsburgh on May 17 against the Cubs. He has now allowed two runs or fewer in nine of his 11 starts in the majors.
