NEW YORK — The majesty and importance of Opening Day will never go away. It should be considered a national holiday. It’s the culmination of weeks of Spring Training, mixed with a switch flipping toward the regular season, better weather and games that actually count.
In a way, overreacting is part of the fun.
But when it comes to the Pirates’ 11-7 loss to the Mets on Thursday at Citi Field, those looking to formulate opinions might have to walk a fine line.
For some of what we saw, yeah, it would really help if it was real. For a few other things, the Pirates will hope what happens in Flushing … well, can just be flushed.
“We always want to learn from everything that goes on, good and bad,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “We have a day to flush it tomorrow, come back out on Saturday and compete."
The two biggest storylines in this one were actually related, and they came in an elongated first inning.
That frame was where Paul Skenes threw 37 pitches before manager Don Kelly exercised caution and pulled the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner … and also Oneil Cruz misplaying a pair of balls, leading to five runs.
Skenes wasn’t hit particularly hard, but he wasn’t happy with his two-strike execution. It was also just sort of one of those days, although he had amazingly avoided having a start like this in two dazzling seasons prior to Thursday.
The right-hander recorded just two outs before it became a bullpen game, walking two and hitting catcher Francisco Alvarez.
“It’s nice to get it out of the way,” Skenes said with a smirk.
“Unlike him,” Pirates manager Don Kelly added. “It's also a credit to the guys they have over there, good hitters that make lots of contact, foul pitches off and work deep into the count.
“It looked to me like the fastball command wasn't where it typically is with Paul. But they grinded some at-bats out too."
If we’re ranking things to care about from this one, whether Skenes will bounce back should be very, very low on the list. His routine doesn’t deviate from start to start, something that to this point has been one of the primary drivers behind his success.
If anything, Skenes maybe got a little breather before Wednesday’s start. There were also plays behind him that should have been made.
'I'm gonna learn'
When the ball left designated hitter Brett Baty’s bat, Cruz’s first step was in. That mistake would cost Cruz and the Pirates, as the ball sailed over his head for a bases-clearing triple and a 3-2 Mets lead, short-circuiting the momentum gained by Brandon Lowe’s two-run homer in the first.
It obviously got worse, as second baseman Marcus Semien hit a ball high in the sky that Cruz lost in the sun, allowing it to drop for what became a two-run double.
“Those are the ones that I definitely have to get better at,” Cruz said, with major league coach Stephen Morales translating.
Those plays are the types of things Cruz has worked on all spring, especially the low line drive that Baty hit right at him. But with the Pirates looking to prove that concerns about their defense are overblown, it wasn’t the message Cruz wanted to convey.
Much like Skenes, the challenge becomes showing that it was an aberration — or as Skenes put it, “an abnormal outing.”
“Nobody wants to make mistakes,” Cruz said. “I’m gonna learn a lot and continue to work hard.”
'Gotta throw strikes'
The Mets’ first inning was helped by those two Cruz misplays. They also benefitted from far too many walks from Pirates pitchers — nine in total, five that scored.
In the fourth, Mason Montgomery opened with two free passes before center fielder Luis Robert Jr. singled on a hanging curveball for a 6-3 lead.
The Mets leveraged more control issues in the fifth, extending their lead to five runs thanks to three more walks and a few well-placed singles.
Left fielder Juan Soto went the other way against Isaac Mattson for a base hit and 7-4 advantage. Mattson walked first baseman Jorge Polanco with the bases loaded, and Robert hit a squibber to the right side to make it a 9-4 game after five.
“We gotta throw strikes,” Kelly said. “That's the bread and butter of what our pitching staff is all about. I fully trust that we'll make the adjustment."
Lowe’s big day
Brandon Lowe began his Pirates tenure in style, homering on the first pitch he saw. The second baseman sent a hanging curveball from Mets starter Freddy Peralta over the right-field fence to become the fourth player (second starter) to homer in his first plate appearance with the Pirates.
After a five-run first for the Mets, Lowe went deep again in the third, this time on a 1-0 fastball low and inside that he blasted 401 feet at 104.7 mph to right-center.
Lowe is the seventh Pirate to homer twice on Opening Day and the first since Garrett Jones in 2010.
“With a new team, I want to make a good impression,” Lowe said. “It's nice to get the ball rolling pretty early."
Offense was solid
The biggest questions dogging the Pirates have not been about their pitching. They’ve been related to their offense. It’s only one game, but Lowe and others maybe quieted that noise a little bit.
After a slow spring, Henry Davis gave the Pirates life with his double in the fifth, bringing Pittsburgh back to within two at 6-4. The Pirates catcher turned on a first-pitch slider and tucked it inside the left-field line.
On his solo homer in the sixth, O’Hearn got a four-seamer up and away and deposited it over the fence in left field, cutting the Mets’ lead to 9-5 at the time.
In the ninth, Nick Gonzales drilled a two-run double and finished with a pair of hits. He knocked in O’Hearn and Jared Triolo, who also doubled.
If the Pirates can pitch better by throwing more strikes and make the routine plays routinely, the offense could give them a legitimate chance.
“You're going to be punched in the face,” Lowe said. “It's how you respond to it. I think the offense did a really good job. The punches they threw were just a little bit bigger than the ones we threw."
As long as the Pirates keep swinging, they’ll be just fine.
Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH.