Paul Skenes flirted with perfection for four-plus innings and took a no-hitter into the seventh, and the Pittsburgh Pirates ace kept his head down after fielding a ground ball for the final out of the eighth inning.
Skenes slowly walked off the field, tipping the bill of his ballcap as he crossed the third-base line and headed toward the home dugout. The “We Want Paul” chants before the bottom of the ninth went unheeded, as the Pirates sent left-hander Gregory Soto to finish it off.
Skenes was masterful against the Colorado Rockies, allowing only two hits while recording 10 strikeouts without a walk in eight scoreless innings for a 3-1 win Tuesday night before 13,516 at PNC Park.
Not only did the 2025 National League Cy Young Award winner strike out the first six batters he faced, but Skenes had double-digit strikeouts for the fourth time in his career and 10 strikeouts without a walk for the second time. He lowered his ERA to 1.98 in the process.
Skenes (6-2) was efficient in throwing 68 of his 98 pitches for strikes and drew 19 whiffs on 54 swings and 13 called strikes. He fired 39 four-seam fastballs, averaging 96.5 mph and getting 10 whiffs and six called strikes. He balanced his repertoire by mixing in 22 sweepers, 17 changeups, 11 splinkers and nine sinkers.
Skenes joined Bob Veale (Sept. 16-22, 1963) and Steve Blass (Sept. 15-20, 1968) as the only Pirates pitchers in the Modern Era (since 1901) to pitch eight scoreless innings and allow two or fewer hits in back-to-back starts (he is the only one to issue zero walks in each of those two starts)
He also became one of four major pitchers in the Modern Era to pitch eight scoreless innings while allowing two or fewer hits and issuing zero walks in back-to-back starts, joining Boston (AL)’s Cy Young (Sept. 19-23, 1905), Chicago (AL)’s Billy Pierce (June 21-27, 1958) and San Diego’s Mat Latos (May 7-13, 2010)
The Pirates gave Skenes a lead to work with, as Oneil Cruz hit a leadoff double off the center-field wall, advanced to third on Ryan O’Hearn’s fielder’s choice and scored on a single to right field by Nick Gonzales for a 1-0 advantage.
Skenes recorded nine whiffs and four called strikes on his first 29 pitches, throwing 22 strikes. Skenes got Edouard Julien swinging at a changeup and Mickey Moniak and Hunter Goodman at four-seam fastballs in the first inning. TJ Rumfield went down looking at a called third strike on a heater to start the second, then Skenes got Tyler Freeman swinging at a sweeper and Troy Johnston at a fastball in the second.
Skenes is the only Pirates pitcher in the Expansion Era (since 1961) to begin a game by striking out the first seven batters — he did so against the Chicago Cubs on May 17, 2024 — but Willi Castro broke up his repeat bid by dropping a first-pitch bunt to start the third. Skenes fielded it cleanly, got Ezequiel Tovar to line to right with his second pitch and Jake McCarthy to ground out to second in a four-pitch frame.
Skenes got a pair of groundouts in the fifth but hit Johnston with a 2-1 changeup to end his perfection after 4 2/3 innings for the second consecutive game. He did the same at Arizona on May 6, allowing two hits without a walk in eight scoreless innings in a 1-0 win. Johnston attempted to steal second on an 0-2 changeup to Castro, only for Henry Davis to throw him out by a step for the third out.
The Pirates padded their lead to 2-0 against Michael Lorenzen (2-5) in the bottom of the fifth. Cruz hit a two-out, ground-rule double that bounced over the left-center field wall, then raced home on Brandon Lowe’s single to right, beating Tyler Freeman’s throw with a head-first slide.
Skenes struck out the side again in the sixth, getting Castro swinging at a changeup, Tovar on a fastball and McCarthy looking at a called third strike on a full-count changeup to end an eight-pitch battle.
That gave Skenes double-digit strikeouts for the fourth time in his three-year career, the first time this season. His career-best is 11 strikeouts, which he recorded twice in 2025: at the Chicago Cubs in a 9-3 win May 17, and at the Milwaukee Brewers in a 1-0 win on July 11. Skenes matched his 10 strikeouts without a walk in a 1-0 loss at Seattle last July 6.
Moniak broke up the no-hit bid with one out in the seventh, on a low line drive that bounced under the glove of a diving Cruz in left-center. Skenes got Goodman to pop up to first and Rumfield to fly out to center.
The Pirates added another run in the seventh, when Bryan Reynolds hit a grounder up the middle with the bases loaded and beat Julien’s throw to drive in Konnor Griffin for a 3-0 lead.
Johnston hit a one-out double to right in the eighth, but Skenes got Castro to fly out to left and Tovar to hit the grounder to end the frame. Soto retired the first two batters he faced before pinch hitter Jordan Beck drilled a double down the left-field line and Goodman followed with a run-scoring double to left-center to end the shutout bid.