Paul Skenes took a no-hitter through seven innings
After trading blowout games to start the series, the Brewers and Pirates had a pitchers’ duel to finish up with the rubber match. Aaron Civale and Paul Skenes matched up well against each other, with Skenes taking a no-hitter through seven innings.
This was the Brewers first time facing Skenes in his career, and they saw every bit of why he’s already considered one of the best pitchers in the National League. The only baserunners he allowed were in the second inning, when he hit Jake Bauers with a pitch and walked Garrett Mitchell. Other than that, no other Brewer reached base against him. The Brewers did work his pitch count up early, but Skenes adjusted and made it through seven innings on 99 pitches.
Meanwhile, Civale did his best to keep the Pirates off the board and keep up with Skenes. He made it through six innings scoreless, scattering some hits and walks. Unfortunately, he broke in the seventh. After a leadoff single, Yasmani Grandal put the Pirates on the board with an RBI double. Civale then walked Andrew McCutchen, forcing Pat Murphy to turn to Bryan Hudson, who came in and got a double play to end the inning. Civale finished the day at 100 pitches over 6 1⁄3 innings, with just the one run allowed. He also allowed six hits, two walks, and struck out six.
With Skenes at 99 pitches and no hits allowed, the Pirates decided to go to Colin Holderman in the eighth inning. On Holderman’s second pitch, Bauers singled to break up the no-hitter. Three pitches later, the Brewers had their second hit with a Mitchell single. The next two batters weren’t successful. Andruw Monasterio tried to move the runners up with a sacrifice bunt, but was unsuccessful and ended up striking out. Blake Perkins also didn’t have a good plate appearance, striking out for the second out. Brice Turang worked a full count before taking a walk to load the bases. However, William Contreras struck out to end the inning.
The ninth ended up going by relatively quietly. After Bryan Hudson pitched a scoreless eighth, Elvis Peguero had a clean ninth in the top of the inning. The Brewers had the heart of their order up to face Aroldis Chapman in the bottom of the inning, but couldn’t do anything. They went down in order and lost the game 1-0.
The Brewers will wrap up their schedule before the All-Star break with a series against the Nationals starting on Friday. Freddy Peralta is on the mound to face Jackson Rutledge of the Nationals. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m.