Paul Skenes chased after just 2 outs in opener as Mets' offense, Pirates' defense sink ace
Paul Skenes chased after just 2 outs in opener as Mets' offense, Pirates' defense sink ace
Chris CwikThu, March 26, 2026 at 6:35 PM UTC
2
Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes came into the 2026 MLB season looking to take home his second straight Cy Young award. The early returns Thursday were not encouraging.
Skenes lasted just two-thirds of an inning against the New York Mets on Opening Day. He threw 37 pitches and allowed five earned runs in the outing. The Mets led 5-2 when he left the game.
Skenes got himself in trouble early in the first frame with a leadoff walk to Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor. The Pirates’ ace then allowed a bloop single to Juan Soto, making it first and third with no outs.
Draft your Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team for the 2026 MLB Season
New Mets third baseman Bo Bichette then drove in Lindor with a sac fly, giving Skenes an out and the Mets a run. The next batter, new Mets infielder Jorge Polanco, hit a weak single up the third-base line. The ball had a 44.2 mph exit velocity.
With men on first and second, outfielder Luis Robert Jr. drew a 10-pitch walk to load the bases. That brought up Brett Baty, who drove a ball to deep center field.
Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz misjudged the ball off the bat, taking a few steps in before realizing the ball was sailing over his head. He couldn’t course-correct in time to make the catch, allowing all three baserunners to score and Baty to reach third.
The next Mets hitter, Marcus Semien, hit a lazy fly ball to Cruz in center. This time, Cruz had trouble seeing the ball in the sun. If dropped harmlessly, allowing Baty to score and Semien to wind up on second with a double.
One Philadelphia-based athlete who wasn’t happy about that sequence was Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid, who told Cruz he should prepare to be a DH from now on.
Advertisement
After a quick strikeout to rookie Carson Benge for the second out, Skenes hit catcher Francisco Alvarez with a pitch to put two men on base. At that point, the Pirates’ ace was pulled from the contest.
Yohan Ramírez came on in relief of Skenes and was able to induce a flyout from Lindor to get out of the inning.
But the damage was done. For Skenes, the outing marked the shortest of his young career. His previous low came in a September 2024 game vs. the New York Yankees. Skenes pitched just two innings in that contest, though that was due to limiting his innings, not an issue of Skenes’ performance.
Thursday’s performance also ties Skenes’ career high in runs allowed. The only other time he gave up five earned runs came last year, when the St. Louis Cardinals scored five runs against him over six innings during a game in April.
Even worse, Opening Day was a historically poor performance for Skenes. He became the first starting pitcher to register fewer than three outs on Opening Day since Jose Berrios in 2022.
The rough start comes at an extremely inconvenient time for the Pirates, who enter the 2026 season with playoff hopes for the first time in about a decade. After some key offseason acquisitions, the Pirates are considered dark-horse wild-card contenders in the National League.
One of those new additions, infielder Brandon Lowe, got his season started on a much better foot, hitting a two-run homer in the top of the first inning that briefly put the Pirates ahead. Lowe hit a second home run in the third, making it 5-3 at the time.
If there’s any positive to take from all this, it can be argued that Skenes deserved much better from the defense behind him. Cruz’s misplays in the outfield cost the pitcher two outs. Had Cruz made those plays, Skenes might’ve made it out of the inning with the score tied at 2-2.
In addition, three of the four hits against Skenes were pretty fluky. Soto’s single blooped into shallow center, Polanco’s didn’t make it halfway to third base, and Semien’s was lost in the sun. Baty’s triple likely should’ve been an out, though he did hit the ball hard.
Despite that, all of those runs were charged to Skenes, who will turn his attention to getting back on track in his next start, slated to come Wednesday against the Cincinnati Reds.
Source: “AOL Sports”
