Livvy Dunne handed out a good old-fashioned rejection to the Detroit Tigers’ mascot.
During the second game of Thursday’s doubleheader between the Pirates and Tigers, Paws, who has been Detroit’s official mascot since 1995, held up a sign behind home plate that read “Sup Livvy Dunne” while Pittsburgh ace Paul Skenes was on the mound.
Dunne, who has been in a relationship with Skenes since the summer of 2023, quickly took to social media to turn down the mascot, writing “Sorry… not my type of tiger,” while tagging Detroit in an X post.
Dunne’s tiger remark in her post likely refers to the Tigers of LSU, where she and Skenes attended.
Skenes, 23, didn’t seem fazed by the sign, finishing the game with two earned runs and nine strikeouts in six innings pitched. He received a no-decision in the Pirates’ 8-4, 10-inning win over the Tigers.
Since being drafted with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft — and dating one of the largest social media stars in Dunne — the Pirates righty has grown used to the spotlight in his sophomore season.
“I’m gonna get some flak in the locker room, I know that. I’m not looking forward to that,” Skenes said following his GQ photoshoot with Dunne in April. “Yeah, I didn’t know what GQ was until the offer came. I’m glad I did it, I think. I mean, how’d I look? You guys think I looked good?”
Skenes, who won the 2024 National League Rookie of the Year, became the youngest Opening Day starting pitcher in over a decade to begin this season and was ready for the task.
“If you look at when Skip pulled me into the office and told me I was starting Opening Day, it was pretty much the same reaction. It’s just how I am,” Skenes told MLB.com in March. “I didn’t know I was starting Opening Day.
“I didn’t know I was winning Rookie of the Year. It’s just how I am. You can ask my parents, my girlfriend, all that. It’s just how I am.”
Dunne, meanwhile, finished up her fifth and final year on the LSU gymnastics team.