It was a short-lived Opening Day for Paul Skenes, as the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner didn’t survive the first inning of the season opener Thursday afternoon against the New York Mets.
It was a stunning early exit at Citi Field, as Skenes was yanked with two outs in the opening frame after allowing five earned runs on four hits, two walks and one hit batsman. His outing was marred by a pair of mishaps in center field by Oneil Cruz, who misjudged the wind.
It was the first time that Skenes didn’t complete the first inning, as his pitch count rose to 37 (26 strikes). It marked only the second time in 56 career starts that Skenes allowed five earned runs, with the other coming in a 5-3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on April 8, 2025.
The Pirates took a 2-0 lead when Cruz worked a full count before shortening his swing for a leadoff bloop single to center field. When Peralta left a first-pitch curveball over the middle of the plate, Lowe connected at a 47-degree launch angle and watched the ball carry over the outstretched arm of Mets right fielder Carson Benge to clear the fence at 337 feet for a two-run home run.
Peralta recovered to strike out Bryan Reynolds and Marcell Ozuna on three pitches apiece — finishing off both with curves — then got Ryan O’Hearn looking at a called third strike on a four-seam fastball.
Skenes led the major leagues with a 1.97 ERA last season, despite receiving just 3.4 runs per game in support. Giving Skenes a two-run cushion should have been a recipe for success.
Instead, it was the prelude to a disaster.
Skenes, who starred for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, gave up a full-count walk to Francisco Lindor to lead off the bottom of the first. Lindor advanced to third on Juan Soto’s single to center and scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Bo Bichette to cut it to 2-1.
It only went downhill from there.
After Jorge Polanco reached on a dribbler down the third base line and Luis Robert drew a 10-pitch walk, Brett Baty hit a fly ball to center that Cruz misread. It sailed over Cruz’s head for a bases-clearing triple to give the Mets a 4-2 lead.
Cruz made another gaffe when Marcus Semien hit a fly ball that the center fielder — who wasn’t wearing sunglasses — lost in the sun and allowed to drop behind him for a double that allowed Baty to score. Skenes recovered to strike out Benge but was pulled after hitting Francisco Alvarez with a pitch.
Yohan Ramirez replaced Skenes, who handed the ball to Pirates manager Don Kelly and walked off the mound in a daze.
“Really tough inning there for us. Some unfortunate plays, some walks, some control but we’ve got to keep battling here,” Kelly said during an in-game interview with NBC. “It’s all pitch-count related, really for him. We don’t want to put him in harm’s way, getting up in the 40-pitch count mark. If we get into a foul-ball battle there, we don’t want to push him up in the mid-40s.”