Paul Skenes made his final case to win the National Cy Young Award, and the Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander showed why he is the odds-on favorite.

Skenes pitched six scoreless innings against the contending Reds on Wednesday night in the Pirates' 4-3 victory in 11 innings at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. It was Skenes' last start of the season, which ends Sunday.

In an 85-pitch outing, Skenes allowed four hits and struck out seven without walking a batter.

Skenes will make history if he wins the Cy Young in two different ways. With his 10-10 record, he would become the first pitcher with a non-winning record. Skenes would also be the first pitcher to win the National League Rookie of the Year award one season and the NL Cy Young award the next, since Dwight Gooden in 1984 and 1985 with the New York Mets.

The Baseball Writers' Association of America will announce its award winners in November.

"I haven't thought about it a ton," Skenes said. "Unfortunately, you can't have two guys win the Cy Young. I don't really know what my numbers stack up against other guys. So, we'll see."

Skenes would become just the third Pirates pitcher to win the Cy Young, joining Vernon Law (1960) and Doug Drabek (1990).

Skenes was in line for the win on Tuesday as he left the game with a 2-0 lead. However, the Pirate couldn't hold it, and Skenes finished the season as a .500 pitcher – in name only.

Skenes' 1.98 ERA is the best in the major leagues, 24 points ahead of the 2.21 ERA of the Detroit Tigers' Tarik Skubal. Skenes will also finish the season as the first Pirate to win an ERA title since John Candelaria in 1977.

Furthermore, Skenes' 216 strikeouts are a franchise record for a right-hander.

"There's going to be a lot of records that Paul Skenes will have as he continues to go throughout his career," Pirates manager Don Kelly said. "Just how he prepares, how he competes, how he goes out there and uses his stuff."