PAUL Skenes is living the life at the moment.
The Pittsburgh Pirates‘ rookie sensation, 22, has seamlessly transitioned into MLB.
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In his last outing he allowed five hits and struck out eight over 6 1/3 scoreless innings.
That led to a standing ovation at the Busch Stadium as even St. Louis Cardinals supporters could be seen tipping their hats as a sign of respect.
Pittsburgh went on to win 2-1 and fans took to social media to hail Skenes, who is dating former LSU gymnast and influencer Olivia Dunne, 21.
“Pulled Livvy AND has been pitching lights out,” commented one on a clip of the ovation.
“Livvy so lucky,” added another.
“Just a classy baseball city,” a third posted.
Skenes managed 103 pitches – the most he has been given in the majors.
He took on Shohei Ohtani last week and showed no signs of nerves.
“His stuff, that first at-bat… was really good,” Ohtani said.
“I couldn’t put together good swings, but overall just really good stuff.”
Sports Illustrated cover star Dunne has been a regular guest at games and admits it is not always an easy watch.
“I get more nervous watching Paul because it’s just different when you’re not doing it and you’re not in control,” she said yesterday, per Bleacher Report.
“But I am confident in his abilities and I kinda channel those nerves into excitement for him.”
Dunne has shared a hilarious TikTok video featuring her new colleague Travis Kelce.
The superstar athletes have teamed up to promote Accelerator Energy.
DUNNE AND SKENES’ SUMMER OF LOVE
Olivia Dunne and Paul Skenes managed to keep their relationship a secret before finally going public last summer.
The pair met at LSU, but it’s not clear when they started dating.
Rumors of a romance began when Dunne watched LSU win the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska last summer.
And Dunne then posted selfies from Fort Myers in Florida, where Skenes was playing.
He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates and began his pro career by playing in minor leagues in the Sunshine State.
The final clue came when Dunne posed in a Pirates cap before the pair finally went public.
And Kelce, 34, made a cameo on Dunne‘s socials with a cheeky nod to his relationship with pop icon Taylor Swift.
The Kansas City Chiefs tight end mimes “I feel like you’re just here for the zipline” – in reference to a viral scene from comedy show I Think You Should Leave.
But Dunne captioned the clip: “I feel like you’re just here for concert tickets.”
The camera cuts to Dunne sipping Accelerator Energy and replying: “What?”