If there’s one thing the Pirates know how to do, it’s make martyrs out of pitchers who don’t throw no-hitters in Milwaukee.

That’s right, 65 years after Harvey Haddix retired 36 straight Braves hitters before losing in 13 innings by a score of 1-0 at old County Stadium, rookie pitcher Paul Skenes no-hit the Brewers for seven innings at Great American Field on Thursday afternoon. Skenes struck out 11 batters, walked one and hit one over his seven innings of work. Sixty-five of his 99 pitches were strikes, and he lowered his ERA on the season from 2.12 to 1.90.

Unlike Haddix, Skenes didn’t even allow a hit thanks to being yanked from the game by manager Derek Shelton with just six outs to go. Also, Skenes actually improved his record to 6-0 on the season, as the Pirates won by a score of 1-0. The winning run came home when Skenes was still in the game thanks to a Yasmani Grandal double that scored Jack Suwinski in the top of the seventh inning.

Any hope for a combined no-hitter was lost when Colin Holderman relieved Skenes in the bottom of the eighth inning and immediately yielded a single to Jake Bauers. A second Brewers single and a walk ultimately loaded the bases with two outs before Holderman struck out catcher William Contreras to end the threat.

Aroldis Chapman then set the Brewers down in order in the bottom of the ninth to earn his fourth save of the season.

More important than the continued dominance of the rookie Skenes was that Pittsburgh took two of three on the road against the first-place team in the National League Central Division. Great American Field has been a house of horrors for the Buccos over the years, and the fear going into the three-game series was that this would be where their wildcard hopes would finally be put to rest. But while the Pirates (now 45-48 on the season) only gained one game on Milwaukee and are still eight-and-a-half games out of first place, they’re now just two-and-a-half back of the Mets for the third wildcard spot and three-and-a-half behind St. Louis for the second wildcard.

The Pirates will travel to Chicago this weekend for a three-game interleague series vs. the White Sox. At 27-68, Chicago has the worst record in all of baseball, and what better way for Pittsburgh to close out the first half of its schedule than by sweeping the series and improving to .500?

Taking two of three is the minimum because it would give the Pirates momentum heading into the All-Star break and possibly get them closer to a playoff spot.