Livvy Dunne puts the Pirates on full blast after ruining another Paul Skenes start

The Pittsburgh Pirates led the Chicago Cubs 8-3 when Paul Skenes fired his final pitch in the top of the fifth inning on Wednesday afternoon. When the bottom of the inning concluded, Pittsburgh had stretched its advantage to 10-3. That was the ballgame.

Or so we thought.

True to form, the Pirates found a way to unspool down the stretch. The Cubs rallied against a disastrous Pittsburgh bullpen, including six runs in the ninth inning. David Bednar, the hometown hero who led the MLB in saves a season ago, continued his remarkably poor 2024 campaign, allowing three hits, two walks, and five earned runs in less than a full inning of work.

There is blame to go around here, from Bednar, to Aroldis Chapman (1.0 inning, three hits, three earned runs), to manager Derek Shelton, whose seat is scorching hot. It's not the first time Pittsburgh has squandered a strong effort from Skenes. This wasn't even the rookie's best effort, but it is another missed opportunity for a team that was actually in the postseason mix not that long ago.

The social media reactions were... strong.

That said, none will capture national attention quite like this tweet from Livvy Dunne, the famous LSU gymnast who happens to date Skenes.

I am sure all the responses to this tweet will be rational, measured, and completely normal.

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Livvy Dunne fires off response after Pirates blow another Paul Skenes start

Honestly, A+ social media work from Dunne. This is how athletes and those in their orbit should tweet. Overt shade that doesn't cross the line into territory that is too controversial. Dunne has been an avid supporter of Skenes all season and their connection dates back to overlapping tenures at LSU.

There was a long buildup to Skenes' MLB debut this season and the early results have been even better than expected. The most optimistic of Pirates fans couldn't have thought Skenes would be so dominant out of the gate. Unfortunately, pitching is often a collective effort, especially in Skenes' case. The Pirates have him on an innings limit, so the bullpen is tasked almost weekly with upholding a lead Skenes creates.

Sometimes it comes together, but other times, we get results like Wednesday afternoon. The Cubs aren't a particularly explosive offense, so to put up 11 of 14 runs on the bullpen, in a four-inning span, is quite the aberration. Credit where it's due to Chicago, but this is so plainly a Pirates shortcoming, not a Cubs strength.

Bednar was arguably the best National League closer last season. This season, he has a 6.32 ERA through 50 appearances with 49 hits and 18 walks allowed in 47.0 innings. That is only the tip of the iceberg, of course. Pittsburgh hasn't been able to set up Bednar for much success. For a team so reliant on pitching, there are far too many holes in this bullpen.

Now nine games below .500, the Pirates are comfortably in last place in the NL Central. It has been an embarrassing downslide in recent weeks. Skenes deserves better. So does the Pittsburgh fandom.