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Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes, the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner, couldn’t have had a more disastrous start to the 2026 MLB season after he didn’t make it out of the first inning against the New York Mets.
Pirates manager Don Kelly took a trip out to the Citi Field mound to pull Skenes after the Mets put together a five-run first inning that wasn’t just on the phenom right-hander.
But some soft contact, inconsistent accuracy and two bad players in center field by O’Neil Cruz had Skenes’ final line reading just two-thirds of an inning, five runs allowed on four hits and two walks, and he’ll have to look at an inflated 67.50 ERA to start the year off on the wrong foot.
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Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches during the first inning against the New York Mets on Opening Day at Citi Field on March 26, 2026 in the Queens borough of New York City. (Ishika Samant/Getty Images)
The five earned runs tied a career high allowed for Skenes, who found himself in early trouble when Juan Soto’s single allowed Francisco Lindor, who walked to start the bottom of the first inning, to reach third base.
With runners on the corners, Bo Bichette’s first at-bat with the Mets wound up a sacrifice fly to get New York on the board, making it a 2-1 ballgame.
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Things started to clear up for Skenes after that. Jorge Polanco’s first Mets at-bat was a swinging bunt when he reached first base without a throw. Then, after a hard-fought at-bat by Luis Robert Jr. ended with a walk, Skenes found the bases loaded and one out.
Brett Baty came to the plate for the Mets with the opportunity to take the lead with a base hit, not just tie it at two. He caught a shift from Skenes and hit it hard to center field, but the ball appeared playable for Cruz.
That is until Cruz’s first step was in and he stopped moving as he looked up at the sky. Realizing his mistake, he began to sprint backwards and the ball landed over his head and rolled to the deep center field wall. The misplay allowed all three Mets baserunners to score, making it a 5-2 game as Skenes looked annoyed on the mound.
Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates looks on during the game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Mets at Citi Field on Thursday, March 26, 2026 in New York, New York. (Dustin Satloff/MLB Photos)
Next up was Marcus Semien who, like his other new teammates in blue and orange, got a timely hit, but it should have been caught if not for Cruz’s second blunder. He dropped the jumper up to center field in the sun and fought it with his glove before the ball landed next to him as Baty scored from third to make it 5-2.
Skenes would only last two more batters and hit catcher Francisco Alvarez in the arm. Kelly came out of the dugout after that and retired his ace after 37 pitches.
During an in-game interview with NBC, he said the early exit was “pitch count related,” since it’s not very rare for a single frame to get higher than 30 pitches. Since it’s the start of the season and Skenes had a full workload during the World Baseball Classic, pitching over 70 in his semifinal start against the Dominican Republic, the Pirates made sure to be cautious.
Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates walks off the field after being taken out during the first inning against the New York Mets on Opening Day at Citi Field on March 26, 2026 in the borough of Queens, New York City. (Ishika Samant/Getty Images)
The 23-year-old Skenes entered this season with a career 1.96 ERA across 55 starts for the Pirates (320.2 innings) as he has quickly asserted himself among the best pitchers in the game.
But even the best have their off days, and a combination of all the things that could go wrong resulted in an opening day to forget in Queens.
