MLB Opening Day 2026: New-look Mets set tone for season ahead by clobbering Paul Skenes, Pirates

Jake MintzThu, March 26, 2026 at 11:10 PM UTC

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NEW YORK — When the New York Mets last exited a big-league ballpark, they did so in shame, with heads hung low.

For the Queens ballclub, the final day of the 2025 season was an epic embarrassment, with a 4-0 loss to the Marlins the grand finale to a collapse of historic proportions. One of the most expensive rosters ever assembled would spend October on the couch. It was a gut-churning moment for a franchise quite familiar with the perils of comic tragedy.

It was also a catalyst for change. Of the 16 souls who trudged off the field that September day in Miami, just three — Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto and Francisco Alvarez — were penciled into the Mets’ 2026 Opening Day lineup. The other 13 either departed in free agency or were traded, benched or relegated to the minors.

In their place, a parade of fresh faces helped the Mets clobber reigning NL Cy Young winner Paul Skenes and the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-7 on Thursday at Citi Field.

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Rookie Carson Benge, making his MLB debut, hit the first homer of New York’s season (and his career). Center fielder Luis Robert Jr. — acquired from the White Sox in January — had two knocks and a crucial first-inning walk. Bo Bichette — signed for big money in January — had a key first-inning sac fly and multiple über-competitive at-bats. Starting pitcher Freddy Peralta — added via trade in January — was solid, if unspectacular, in his first outing as a Met.

A barrage of first-inning runs, several of them the result of unacceptable outfield defense from Pittsburgh center fielder Oneil Cruz, sent Skenes to the showers after recording just two outs. It was a stunning knockout, one that set the tone for the rest of the afternoon and, perhaps, the rest of New York’s season.

“That first inning was pretty impressive, not gonna lie,” Mets skipper Carlos Mendoza said after the game. “Controlling the strike zone, creating traffic. We're putting the ball in play with two strikes. We're going the other way when we need to. That's a sign of a good offensive team.”

Collapse and all, the Mets were a good offensive team last year as well. They finished 10th in baseball in runs, sixth in OPS and fifth in homers. They led MLB in wRC+, an all-encompassing offensive metric, over the season’s final two months as they nosedived in the standings. But too often, the 2025 lineup struggled to string hits together or push runs across in big spots. Their strong process didn’t always lead to strong results.

That’s part of why president of baseball operations David Stearns embarked on such a dramatic offseason overhaul. The Mets, no longer content with the status quo, set out to reinvent themselves. Stearns was aggressive, calculating, emotionless, willing and eager to part with established fan favorites in order to construct a better, more dynamic roster.

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That winter of frantic activity effectively wiped the slate clean. And so, for the Mets and their fans, this Opening Day meant more than the typical clichés about rebirth and hope and the changing of the seasons. It went beyond a fresh coat of paint and a few new taglines. The team on the field is legitimately different. On Thursday, that energy could be felt throughout the stadium.

“We weren’t going to run back the same group,” Stearns said in spring training. “We were committed to changing our team, improving our team, becoming better in certain areas, and I think we’ve made progress toward that.”

Sure enough, New York’s new-look offense put pressure on Skenes from the jump, with Lindor working a leadoff walk before a Soto bloop put runners on the corners. That put the 23-year-old ace on his back foot. Later in the frame, the Mets benefitted from a pair of outfield miscues from Cruz. First he misplayed a Brett Baty liner to center, breaking in on a ball that zipped over his head and cleared the bases to give New York a 4-2 lead. Then Cruz lost a routine fly in the sun, extending the brutal inning and allowing another run to score. A few batters later, Skenes was done, yanked from the proceedings by manager Don Kelly, who didn’t want his ace’s pitch count to skyrocket.

From there, the game lazed forward, though not without incident. In the third, Cruz took a 3-2 fastball from Peralta on the inner black for what was initially called ball four. But Alvarez immediately tapped his catcher’s helmet, activating the league’s brand-new automated ball-strike (ABS) challenge system. The call was overturned, sending Cruz back to the dugout on strike three, a continuation of his horrendous day. Pittsburgh’s next hitter, Brandon Lowe, cranked a 1-0 Peralta heater into the visiting bullpen.

Had this been last season or had Alvarez not challenged, Cruz would’ve been on base for Lowe’s homer. That would’ve trimmed New York’s lead to one, upping the stress level for the middle innings. Instead, Peralta limited the damage and avoided further danger. The Mets tacked on in the fourth and pulled away in the fifth.

But the day’s most memorable swing came in the sixth, courtesy of Benge, New York’s much-hyped rookie. The 23-year-old made the club’s Opening Day roster out of spring training, despite having zero big-league experience, in part because Mets brass had faith he could handle the bright lights. After the game, Benge admitted to being sped up and overly excited during his first at-bat, a three-pitch strikeout against Skenes.

But he settled into the game well, exhibiting the maturity and poise that convinced Mendoza and Stearns to make him the every-day right fielder. In his fourth at-bat, Benge connected crisply with a poorly located sweeper, sending it flying over the wall in right. The club’s top hitting prospect literally jumped for joy as he rounded first before zipping around the bases like a bat out of hell.

The young Oklahoman had 22 friends and family in attendance, all of whom gathered for a postgame photo on the diamond. Somehow, that contingent included a golden retriever. At one point, everyone sang happy birthday to Benge’s girlfriend, Kennedy, while the two posed for a picture. It was a beautiful scene, the support system sharing in the jubilation of a dream debut.

“I just got chills,” Benge said of the curtain call following his home run. “You know that this is where [you’re] supposed to be, and just having fun every day, playing baseball.”

As Benge floated over home plate and back toward the dugout after his blast, a throng of gleeful teammates awaited with congratulations. Mendoza, for whatever reason, was facing the other direction as the hero of the moment shuffled down the steps. The skipper then suddenly turned and hollered something at Benge, who smiled as he bounded through a wave of cheering teammates.

“He just told me: ‘It's fun here,’” Benge recounted. “And I was like, ‘You're right.’”

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Source: “AOL Sports”