PITTSBURGH — The moment hardly looked too big for Paul Skenes.

The top-ranked pitching prospect in baseball had a promising major league debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates, working into the fifth inning against the Chicago Cubs on Saturday while offering a glimpse of what might be to come.

Skenes was charged with three runs in four-plus innings. He struck out seven, throwing 17 pitches of 100 mph or more. He also walked two and gave up a homer to Nico Hoerner in the fourth that just reached the first row of bleachers beyond the left-field wall.

As he walked off the field, the mustachioed 21-year-old received a loud ovation from a near-sellout crowd that included his more famous girlfriend, LSU gymnast and social media influencer Livvy Dunne.

Skenes became the first Pirates pitcher aged 21 or younger to record at least seven strikeouts in his major league debut since Nick Maddox fanned 11 against the St. Louis Cardinals in 1907 — 95 years before Skenes was born.

The Pirates teased Skenes’ call-up on Wednesday after he breezed through seven starts at Triple-A Indianapolis. His arrival gave PNC Park a playoff-like atmosphere, or at least as much as it can feel like the playoffs in mid-May for a team that hasn’t reached the postseason since 2015.

Fans lined up two and three deep behind the Pirates’ bullpen beyond the center-field fence to try to catch some of Skenes’ pregame routine. Nearby, the team store under the left-field bleachers did a brisk business, with some ponying up $200 for jerseys with Skenes’ No. 30 stitched on the back.

It has been a dizzying rise for Skenes from somewhat anonymous Air Force Academy cadet to College World Series MVP at LSU to first pick in the 2023 draft to possible franchise cornerstone. And yet he looked plenty comfortable.

Skenes, black socks pulled up high against his white pants, confidently strolled out of the dugout and bounded over the third-base line to start what he has likened to the end of one portion of his life and the beginning of another.

A significant portion of the crowd, including Dunne, stood while Skenes warmed up as “Cue Country Roads” by Charles Wesley Godwin blared over the speakers.

Then Chicago designated hitter Mike Tauchman stepped into the batter’s box, and hype gave way to reality. Skenes unfurled his 6-foot-6 frame and, with his funky delivery, fired a 101 mph fastball to Trautman that plate umpire Paul Clemons called a ball.

Six pitches later, Trautman was walking back to the dugout after swinging at another fastball — 100.9 mph this time — that he tipped into catcher Yasmani Grandal‘s mitt for Skenes’ first strikeout.

His second followed three pitches later.

Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki took a pair of called strikes — the second an 87 mph slider that left Suzuki shaking his head — before flailing at another slider.

Chicago center fielder Cody Bellinger worked a walk, but only after taking a ball that registered 101.9 mph, the fastest by a Pirates pitcher since Major League Baseball began tracking pitch speed in 2008.

Skenes worked out of the inning by getting Christopher Morel to fly out to deep center. A walk, a hit batter and a single in the second loaded the bases with one out. No matter. Yan Gomes struck out looking at a fastball, and Tauchman grounded out to second.

The next two innings were more of the same, with Skenes mixing triple-digit fastballs with off-speed stuff that remains a work in progress. Hoerner went deep on a hanging first-pitch slider.

Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton, who has stressed the team will remain mindful of Skenes’ workload, took the rookie out after his pitch count reached 84 following a pair of hits by the Cubs to lead off the fifth. The runners later scored when reliever Kyle Nicolas walked in a pair of runs.

Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said a few hours before the first pitch that Skenes has nothing left to prove in the minors, even with the outsized attention he has received every step of the way.

“There is no reason to put any ceiling on [him],” Cherington said. “It will be fun to watch that play out. That’s all I can say. I’m very confident that’s how he’s thinking about it. That’s the fun of it for someone like him and some of the other elite performers. It’s finding a way to find that next level.”

NEW YORK — The Atlanta Braves were one out away from ending their 30-year no-hitter drought Saturday at Citi Field. Then J.D. Martinez stepped to the plate.

The New York Mets’ designated hitter spoiled the Braves’ bid with a first-pitch solo home run off closer Raisel Iglesias with two outs in the ninth inning. The heroics marked the veteran Martinez’s first home run as a Met. New York, however, lost 4-1.

The Braves have gone without a no-hitter since Kent Mercker held the Los Angeles Dodgers hitless on April 8, 1994. It is the fourth-longest drought in the major leagues.

Max Fried logged the first seven no-hit innings for Atlanta, compiling five strikeouts and three walks before he was pulled with 109 pitches. Two of Fried’s walks came in the third inning before he struck out Starling Marte to extinguish the threat.

The Mets managed to put just one more runner in scoring position before the ninth inning, when Jimenez walked two batters in the eighth. He wiggled out of the jam by striking out Tyrone Taylor and Marte.

The Mets came close to spoiling Fried’s bid a few times. Pete Alonso mashed a pitch 104.9 mph off the bat, 405 feet to center field in the second inning that would’ve been a home run in six big league ballparks. Instead, it was a flyout. Moments later, Martinez hit a 105.6 mph line drive at third baseman Austin Riley for the second out of the inning.

Martinez nearly delivered the Mets’ first hit again in the seventh inning when, after Alonso worked a walk, he skied a ball 408 feet to center field. What would’ve been a home run in 12 ballparks was another flyout Saturday. Fried then struck out Jeff McNeil looking to end his sterling outing.

The Mets’ offense was dealt a blow when leadoff hitter Brandon Nimmo exited the game after the fourth inning with what the Mets termed “right intercostal irritation.” Manager Carlos Mendoza said after the game that he’s “not too concerned” about Nimmo’s injury, adding that he is day-to-day.

ST. PETERSBURG Fla. — New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole threw 29 pitches including breaking balls on Saturday in his third bullpen session since injuring his elbow in spring training.

Cole said he threw 13 curveballs and his fastball reached 89 mph in the workout before the Yankees played at Tampa Bay.

“Fastball profiles were good,” Cole said. “Location was good. Velocity was where we wanted. A lot of strikes.”

The right-hander is not sure how many more mound sessions he will have before facing hitters, but he said the plan is to simulate two innings in the next couple of outings.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said outfielder Jasson Domínguez will be the designated hitter for the first of two weeks starting Tuesday or Wednesday for Single-A Tampa. The 21-year-old had four homers and seven RBIs in seven games last September before hurting his right elbow, which required Tommy John surgery.

Infielder DJ LeMahieu, out with a right foot injury, took live batting practice off injured right-hander JT Brubaker at the Yankees’ complex in Tampa.

Boone said LeMahieu will face pitching again on Tuesday and is nearing a rehab assignment.

Brubaker, acquired from Pittsburgh on March 30, sat out last season following Tommy John surgery. He was the Pirates’ opening day starter in 2022.

Reliever Tommy Kahnle, on the injured list with a hurt right shoulder, struck out one during a perfect inning in his second outing with Single-A Tampa. The righty is set to join Double-A Somerset on Tuesday.

Cole will remain in Tampa after the Yankees conclude their three-game series with the Rays on Sunday. His next mound session could be Tuesday.

The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner has been on the 60-day IL with right elbow inflammation. He is not expected to make his season debut until at least June.

The 33-year-old right-hander was shut down in mid-March due to nerve inflammation and edema in his pitching elbow. He had trouble bouncing back between starts.

“We’re making good process (there),” Cole said Saturday.

Cole is entering the fifth season of a $324 million, nine-year contract that pays $36 million annually. He has the right to opt out after the season and become a free agent, but if he opts out the Yankees can void the optout by adding a guaranteed $36 million salary for 2029.

Last season, Cole became the first Yankees player to win the Cy Young since Roger Clemens in 2001. He was 15-4 with an AL-best 2.63 ERA and finished with 222 strikeouts.