Paul Skenes dominated in the first inning at the MLB All-Star Game — and had his own personal cheering section to boot.
The Pirates right-hander twirled a scoreless first inning, working around a walk to Juan Soto, against the superstar-filled American League lineup on Tuesday night at Globe Life Field.
After getting the Guardians’ Steven Kwan and the Oriole’ Gunnar Henderson out with relative ease, Skenes issued a free pass to Soto after the count went full.
That set up a showdown with 2022 AL MVP Aaron Judge, who rolled over on 99.7 mph fastball to third base to end the inning.
During the frame, Skenes was cheered on by girlfriend and LSU gymast Livvy Dunne from the stands.
“Let’s go Paul!” the social media sensation was heard cheering on the Fox broadcast.
Skenes, 22, was the first rookie to be named a starting pitcher for the MLB All-Star Game since Hideo Nomo did so for the National League in 1995.
Max Fried entered in the second inning to replace Skenes.