Olivia Dunne's MLB boyfriend Paul Skenes impressively strikes out Shohei Ohtani with three 100mph fastballs in Pirates' win over Dodgers... but $700m star gets home-run revenge
- Pittsburgh rookie Paul Skenes is one of MLB's greatest pitching prospects
- He faced his greatest test as he took to the mound against Shohei Ohtani
Pittsburgh Pirates rookie Paul Skenes withstood the pressure of facing the Los Angeles Dodgers $700million man Wednesday night.
Skenes, who is the boyfriend of LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne, is one of baseball's greatest pitching prospects and has already made several great starts to his career.
However, he faced arguably his greatest test Wednesday as he took to the mound against Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Yet, he showed no fear against the star, who signed a 10-year, $700-million-dollar deal with the Dodgers in the offseason.
Skenes started out strong versus the top of the order, first striking out Mookie Betts on four pitches - two of them over 100mph.
Paul Skenes withstood the pressure of facing the Dodgers $700million man Shohei Ohtani
He continued his form by impressively whiffing Ohtani with three straight 100-plus mph heaters.
Back in 2018, Skenes was part of the El Toro high school team who travelled from Lake Forest, California, to Angel Stadium for Ohtani's then-home pitching debut.
However, he got the best of the Japanese icon during the first face off between the pair.
Yet, it was Ohtani who came out on top at the next at-bat. He enacted his revenge during his second appearance at the plate with a home run off a 100mp pitch from Skenes at the top of the third inning which also knocked in Betts.
However, it did little to limit the damage of the Pirates' explosive second inning as the home team clung on.
Nick Gonzales ripped a two-run double to ignite a seven-run second inning, fueling the host Pittsburgh Pirates to a 10-6 victory.
Gonzales also had a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning and an RBI single in the seventh. His four RBIs matched a career high and gave him 20 in 23 games since being recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis on May 10.
Bryan Reynolds slapped a two-run single and Yasmani Grandal, Edward Olivares and Ke'Bryan Hayes each had an RBI single for the Pirates, who recorded a 1-0 win in the series opener on Tuesday.
The Pittsburgh Pirates rookie struck out Ohtani with three straight 100-plus mph heaters
Ohtani enacted his revenge during his second at-bat with a home run off a 100mp pitch
The offense on Wednesday was more than enough for rookie Paul Skenes (3-0). The hard-throwing right-hander overcame a two-run homer by Shohei Ohtani and a solo shot from rookie Andy Pages to allow just those three runs on six hits while striking out eight and walking one in five innings.
Jason Heyward had three hits and scored twice for the Dodgers. Will Smith and Gavin Lux each had an RBI single.
Gonzales opened the scoring against James Paxton (5-1) in the second inning as his broken-bat double down the left field line plated a pair of runs. Grandal, who scored Gonzales with an RBI single, joined Jared Triolo in coming home on Reynolds' bases-loaded single to center field to give Pittsburgh a 5-0 lead.
Olivares' RBI single sent Paxton to the showers and Reynolds scored on a passed ball by Smith to cap the seven-run inning.
Nick Gonzales (left) and Martin Perez celebrate the Pirates' 10-6 victory over the Dodgers
Ohtani trimmed the deficit in the third by depositing the 3-2 fastball from Skenes over the wall in center field for his team-leading 15th homer of the season.
Pages led off the fifth with his sixth homer of the campaign, but Skenes escaped a bases-loaded jam to end the inning.
The Dodgers plated one run in both the sixth and seventh innings to shave Pittsburgh's lead to 8-5 before Hayes and Gonzales each tacked on an RBI single in the seventh.
Paxton permitted seven runs (six earned) on six hits in 1 2/3 innings to sustain his first loss since September 1.
