Paul Skenes is off to a historic start to his major league career.
Skenes and the Pirates blew out the Mets, 14-2, on Friday evening at PNC Park, in which the California native threw seven solid innings, recording eight strikeouts while allowing two earned runs and four hits.
In striking out eight the batters, he set the record for most outings of seven or more strikeouts within his first 10 appearances in Major League history with nine, according to the Pirates.
Skene, now 5-0 on the season with a 2.12 ERA, has only yielded 14 earned runs in his first 10 MLB starts.
In the series opener against the Mets, the 6-foot-6 Skenes helped elevate the Pirates to a 42-45 record, and they stand 4.0 games out of the third and final National League wild-card spot.
The Mets, who dropped to 42-44 following the one-sided loss in Pittsburgh, are narrowly ahead.
The Pirates also dominated on the other side of the ball, homering against the Mets seven times, which was made clear inside the stadium, where they claim to have run out of fireworks due to all the dingers.
“We have seven home runs tonight, which is the fifth time in Pirates history that we have done this. So many homers that we ran out of fireworks,” the Pirates wrote on their left-field scoreboard.
The NL Rookie of the Year candidate has also gained notoriety for being the boyfriend of former LSU gymnast and social media star Olivia Dunne.
The two met at LSU, where Skenes attended school in 2023 after transferring from Air Force.
Dunne made headlines this week after attending Fanatics founder Michael Rubin’s annual white party in the Hamptons.
