Pirates ace Paul Skenes flirts with no-hitter in latest gem as his historically great stretch continues

Prior to that, Skenes struck out the first six batters he faced, a streak that ended on Willi Castro's attempt at a bunt single in the third inning. He went on to retire the first 14 batters he faced before nicking Troy Johnston on the foot with a wayward changeup. Just before the start of the ninth inning, the PNC Park crowd chanted, "We want Paul! We want Paul!" However, Skenes would not get the opportunity to notch his first career complete game.

Now for the moving pictures:

The spotless outing lowered Skenes' ERA for the season to 1.98, which is right in line with his career mark of 1.97. Yes, after the first 64 starts of his MLB career, Skenes has a sub-2.00 ERA. It's no exaggeration to call the beginning of Skenes' career one of the best ever among big-league hurlers. Still just 23, Skenes figures to keep it going for a long time.

Instead of the future, though, let's use his Tuesday effort to talk about the recent past. Consider Skenes' last five starts, including Tuesday's: 32 IP, 0.84 ERA, 38 strikeouts, 0 walks. Skenes has not allowed a run in 16 straight innings, but the more impressive streak is this stretch without a walk.

Yes, Skenes hasn't allowed a walk in a month. That covers a span of 123 straight batters faced and counting. That also covers a span of 35 consecutive innings without a walk. The last batter to work a walk off Skenes? It was James Wood of the Washington Nationals, who leads the NL in walks, back on April 13. For those curious, the MLB record for most consecutive innings without a walk belongs to Bill Fischer of the Kansas City A's, who in 1962 went 84 1/3 straight innings without issuing a free pass. The NL record belongs to Hall of Famer Greg Maddux. As a member of the Atlanta Braves in 2001, he didn't walk a batter for 72 1/3 consecutive innings. Skenes is almost halfway to that NL mark.

For Skenes, though, the focus is on keeping runs off the board and helping his Pirates remain in contention in the hotly competitive senior circuit. Tuesday's win pushed them to 23-19 on the season. That's good for merely fourth place in the NL Central, but they're just one game out of the third and final wild card spot.