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Pirates pitching phenom Paul Skenes lives up to the hype in wild, rain-delayed debut

PITTSBURGH — It poured in the Steel City for the better part of Saturday. First rain, then walks and runs, then rain again.

But for Paul Skenes, and for Paul Skenes only, the sun shined in Pittsburgh.

Skenes, the best pitching prospect in the world, was both dominant and rusty in his highly anticipated major-league debut. His flashes of brilliance electrified an antsy PNC Park crowd. His premature departure angered it. The final line — four innings, three runs, seven strikeouts — doesn’t tell the whole story. Skenes, on a strict pitch limit, was very good. His fellow Pittsburgh pitchers were not.