In Photos: Paul Skenes' girlfriend Olivia Dunne delights in Pittsburgh sun at PNC Park
Paul Skenes made his third start for the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday. While the Pirates came away with a tough 7-6 loss to the San Francisco Giants, Skenes had a good game. The exciting 21-year-old pitcher recorded three strikeouts in six innings pitched, allowing one hit for a 2.25 ERA.
Skenes' girlfriend, Olivia Dunne, was in attendance at PNC Park and shared some snaps of her enjoying a patch of Pittsburgh sun to her Instagram stories.
With Pittsburgh falling to back-to-back defeats to the Giants, they are 23-28 and have fallen to fourth in the NL Central.
While there's still time for the Pirates to change their fortunes and make the playoffs, the immediate road ahead sees them take on the Atlanta Braves, one of the strongest teams in the MLB.
Paul Skenes backs himself as Pirates manager 'frustrated' by bullpen
The Pirates were 5-1 up when Paul Skenes was relieved after six innings but fell to a 7-6 defeat. Skenes discussed his form and how the game went (via MLB.com):
“Just gotta get back to what makes me good and trusting my stuff. You’ll take your singles, but the odds of them getting four singles in a row, I trust myself over pretty much any lineup. It’s just playing the odds a little bit.
"I wish it were a little bit more,” Skenes said. “Had a couple long innings, but there’s going to be those games. I thought I made do and put the team in the best position to win.”
The Pirates' bullpen was certainly a concern, as after Paul Skenes, the Pirates sent out Jose Hernandez, Hunter Stratton, Aroldis Chapman and David Bednar, all to no avail. Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton addressed the issue:
“It's a concern. Our bullpen's got to be better. We have, what, a 5-1 lead yesterday? 6-2 lead today? We have to be better. Our bullpen has to be better. We have to win games like that.
“Frustrating. Very frustrating. We have to finish games like that.”
The Pirates now move on to the series against the Braves and will hope for better days.