Pirates' Paul Skenes had MLB record streak snapped in 47th career start

Billy Heyen

Pirates' Paul Skenes had MLB record streak snapped in 47th career start image

Paul Skenes gave up a career-worst total of hits on Thursday night against the Cincinnati Reds.

But for Skenes, that's still not that many, and it didn't stop his Pittsburgh Pirates from providing some rare run support in a 7-0 win.

Before this outing, Skenes had never allowed more than six hits in a start in his MLB career. That streak of 46 such starts in a row to begin his time in MLB was by far the record, exceeding 31 by Shohei Ohtani, according to OptaStats.

Skenes gave up seven hits to the Reds in six innings.

He struck out eight and didn't allow a run, lowering his ERA to 1.94.

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Skenes hasn't allowed a run at home in 27.2 innings, and the most recent one (June 8) was unearned.

According to ESPN

"Skenes hasn't permitted an earned run over his past five starts at PNC Park, the longest such stretch for a Pirates pitcher at home since earned runs became an official National League statistic in 1912. Skenes had shared the team record with Bob Harmon (1915) and Zane Smith (1990)."

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It's ironic that the Reds were the team to finally get seven hits off Skenes, because they generally can't touch him. He's 4-0 in his career against Cincinnati with a 0.39 ERA.

Even in allowing the seven hits, though, it was just another day at the office for Skenes.

"Every time he goes out, he's unbelievable, the way he's able to attack hitters," Pirates manager Don Kelly told reporters after the game.

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle