The Pittsburgh Pirates and Los Angeles Dodgers gave fans a matchup of a superstar in the making and a current superstar when Paul Skenes and Shohei Ohtani faced off. The matchups were as great as anyone could have hoped for in Pittsburgh's 10-6 win.

In the top of the first inning, Skenes sat Ohtani down on three pitches. He pumped three fastballs right by him, with each one topping 100 miles per hour. Ohtani didn’t look anything like the MVP-caliber hitter he is, swinging and missing at all three offerings with all his might.

In Ohtani's next at-bat in the third inning, he worked the count full (but still whiffed twice more on Skenes' fastball) and then smacked the ball 415 feet to straightaway center field. The two-run blast got the Dodgers on the board after they surrendered seven runs in the previous inning.

The third and final time they faced off in the fifth inning ended with Ohtani notching a single off of another fastball. Skenes prevented any more runs from coming in, though, after allowing a home run to Andy Pages before Ohtani came back up to bat. The Pirates rookie struck out eight batters — including other Dodgers stars like Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Will Smith — while allowing six hits, three earned runs and a walk. His ERA so far this season is now an even 3.00.

Paul Skenes, Shohei Ohtani each get the best of the other in epic showdown

The respect between the two ballers is mutual. Skenes wasn’t too bent out of shape about the homer and instead was just pleased with how the high-profile matchup went, according to Alex Stumpf of MLB.com.

“I like to call that big on big, because I obviously beat him a couple times earlier,” Skenes said, via MLB.com. “I think that was the right pitch to throw there, he’s just a pretty darn good player. Stuff like that is going to happen.”

Ohtani had a lot of good things to say about Skenes, whose insane velocity has instantly made him a formidable starting pitcher in the pros.

“The stuff itself was really good,” Ohtani said via interpreter Will Ireton, per MLB.com. “As you saw in the first at-bat, I couldn't really put together good swings. Overall, just really good stuff.”

The Dodgers and Pirates don’t share a division but both reside in the National League, so there will be a lot more Skenes-Ohtani duels to come in the future. They’ll face each other again in the middle of August. Hopefully, we'll get to see the MVP contender and Rookie of the Year contender face off one more time this season, as a postseason showdown doesn’t look too likely right now.

Skenes and Jared Jones have provided the Pirates with a great, young tandem of starting pitchers to build around for the future. At 29-32, the Buccos are looking to keep their upward trajectory going and compete for the playoffs.

Meanwhile, Ohtani and the Dodgers have one of the best records in all of MLB at 38-25. They have their sights set on the World Series.