NEW YORK -- Right-hander Paul Skenes is usually the dominator when he is on the mound. But on Opening Day 2026 on Thursday at Citi Field, Skenes was hit hard in the first inning against the Mets and was chased from the Pirates' 11-7 loss after allowing five runs while throwing 37 pitches in two-thirds of an inning. It was the shortest outing of Skenes’ career.
Skenes didn’t have any excuses. He had a great bullpen before the game and felt healthy. The Pirates gave him a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Brandon Lowe hit a two-run homer off right-hander Freddy Peralta. Then came the crazy turn of events.
It was never easy for Skenes from the start. The first two hitters he faced -- Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto -- reached base on a walk and a single, respectively, to put runners on first and third. Bo Bichette followed and hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Lindor.
Three batters later, the Mets had the bases loaded when Brett Baty hit a sharp line drive to center fielder Oneil Cruz, who misjudged the ball and let it soar over his head for a three-run triple to give New York a 4-2 lead. Originally a shortstop, Cruz is still a work in progress when it comes to playing center field.
“He has got to keep working,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “The ball went straight at him. He came in and got a bad read. He has been working hard out there. He needs to continue to get better.”
Cruz then lost an easy fly ball in the sun hit by Marcus Semien that allowed Baty to score the fifth run of the game. It didn’t help that Cruz didn’t have his sunglasses on.
After the inning ended, Kelly and third-base coach Tony Beasley had a discussion with Cruz about not having his rims on.
“We need to make sure that we are prepared right there,” Kelly said. “Once it’s over, there is nothing you can do about it. You [have] to stay in the game and keep going.”
After striking out Carson Benge and hitting Francisco Alvarez with a pitch, Skenes left the game and was replaced by Yohan Ramírez.
Skenes’ two-thirds of an inning was the shortest season debut by a reigning Cy Young winner, among those whose first appearance was a start.
Kelly took Skenes out of the game because it was too early in the season to push him past the 37 pitches. The skipper was obviously thinking about Skenes’ health.
“You know Paul; he is a competitor. He wants to stay out there and pitch,” the skipper said. “It was a really tough thing getting him in the first inning right there. The bottom of it is Paul’s health. … We had to make the move.”
Part of Skenes’ problem was that the Mets were grinding at-bats during that inning. Two examples: Lindor had a seven-pitch plate appearance before walking to lead off and Luis Robert Jr. saw 10 pitches while walking to load the bases.
“They really did a good job. In the moment, it was a little frustrating, but I just have to execute earlier [in the count],” Skenes said. “I walked the leadoff guy. I really didn’t execute with two strikes when I needed a punchout or a double play there.”
How does Skenes regroup in his next start? It’s simple: Flush out the last start and prepare for the next one.
“You have to look at it for what it is -- there wasn’t a ton of hard contact,” he said. “Leadoff walk is not great. … The batting average on balls in play was super high today. That will go down as the season goes on.”