Brewers 2nd team to face AL, NL Cy Young winners in consecutive games
MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Milwaukee Brewers had the daunting task of facing the AL and NL Cy Young Award winners in consecutive games. The results were mixed, with both ending in losses for the defending NL Central champions. After having late-inning success against the Tigers’ Tarik Skubal on Thursday in Detroit, the Brewers had to deal with Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes and his signature “splinker” pitch, a combination of split-finger and sinker, for which Milwaukee had no answer, leaving Skenes with a perfect game into the seventh inning Friday in Milwaukee.
Skenes (4-1) didn’t allow a base runner until Jake Bauers’ sharp single to right with two outs in the seventh. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up one hit over seven shutout innings. He struck out seven and didn’t walk a batter.
Skenes had another no-hitter close call in Milwaukee on July 11, 2024, when he allowed no hits over seven innings in a 1-0 win. When asked if that’s the best the Brewers had seen from Skenes in his five outings against them, Brewers manager quickly responded. “That’s the best I’ve seen from anyone, I think,” Murphy said.
Skenes’ dominance called for desperate measures, he added. “I was thinking about telling guys just to jump in front of it,” Murphy said. “You know what I mean?
Just jump in front of it and try to get hit. ” Facing ruling Cy Young Award winners had happened just once before in the majors, and it was just last year, according to Sportradar, when the Red Sox faced Skubal and the Tigers in Detroit on May 14 and Atlanta’s Chris Sale at home on May 16. The Red Sox, like the Brewers, lost both games.