OLIVIA Dunne was a proud girlfriend after Paul Skenes delivered the best ride of his young career.
Skenes threw seven innings of hitless baseball Thursday afternoon for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Skenes threw 99 pitches after the seventh inning, but was not allowed to continue pitching for the entire game.
Dunne walked the ESPYs red carpet after Skenes’s start and shared her thoughts on her boyfriend being sidelined since the start.
“You know what, it would have been a nice compliment to say you didn’t get a hit your rookie year,” she said.
“But you also have to make that arm last a long time, so I don’t blame them.”
Skenes was undeterred by his disappointment at being taken out of the game and clearly stated that he wanted to sit out.
“I definitely wanted to finish,” Skenes said.
“Playing every six days, five days, whatever it is now, I definitely understand that side of it.”
The task of completing the no hitter was passed to the bullpen after Skenes was pulled, and they immediately gave up hitting the first batter of the eight innings.
However, they still managed to hold on for a 1–0 victory, giving Skenes his sixth win of his debut season.
Many fans were upset with the decision to remove Skenes from the game, but changed their minds after hearing Dunne’s calm reaction to it.
“Lívio earns more than most pirates on Twitter,” said one fan.
“Livvy knows the ball,” said another fan.
“This is amazing and genuine,” said a third fan.
“I have calmed down about the situation since the Queen of the city spoke,” said a fourth fan.
Five Major MLB Rule Changes in 2024
1. The pitch clock is reduced from 20 to 18 seconds with runners on base. It will remain at 15 seconds with the bases empty.
2. When a pitching change is made, the inning clock will reset to 2:00 instead of 2:15 as it did last year.
3. Teams will only be able to visit four mounds per game in 2024, compared to five last season.
4. Defenders and defenders blocking bases will be called for obstruction.
5. The runners’ lane from home plate to first base has been widened to include the dirt between the grass and the white line.
Although Pirates fans didn’t see their ace throw a no-hitter, they did get to witness a historically excellent rookie season.
Skenes has had an incredible start to his career, playing 11 games in the first half of the season.
In those games, he is 6-0 with a 1.90 ERA, racking up 89 strikeouts in 66.1 innings pitched.
Skenes has been so good that not only was he named to the National League All Star team, but he was also named the starter for the game.
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