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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 failing to make it in the first inning against the New York Mets.
Pirates manager Don Kelly went to the mound at Citi Field to pull Skenes after the Mets put together a five-run first inning that wasn’t entirely due to the right-handed phenom.
But limp contact, inconsistent accuracy and two poor fielders in center field by O’Neil Cruz meant Skenes’ bottom line read only 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 on the wrong foot.
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Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates throws 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. (Ishika Samant/Getty Images)
The five earned runs tied a career high for Skenes, who found himself in trouble early when Juan Soto’s single allowed Francisco Lindor, who walked to lead off the bottom of the first inning, to reach third base.
With runners on the corners, Bo Bichette’s first at-bat with the Mets resulted in a sacrifice fly to get New York on the board, making it a 2-1 ball game.
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Things started to go downhill for Skenes after that. Jorge Polanco’s Mets first at-bat was a blowout, as he reached first base without throwing. Then, after a tough fight by Luis Robert Jr. ended in 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 hit, not just tie the game at two apiece. He caught a shift from Skenes and hit it hard to center field, but the ball looked playable for Cruz.
Until Cruz took his first steps and stopped moving as he looked up at the sky. When he realized his mistake, he started sprinting backwards and the ball landed above 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 exasperated on the mound.
Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates watches the game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Mets at Citi Field on Thursday, March 26, 2026, in New York, New York. (Photos Dustin Satloff/MLB)
Next at bat was Marcus Semien who, like his other new teammates in blue and orange, got a well-timed hit, but it should have been caught if not for Cruz’s second error. He lost the ball at center field in the sun, fighting it with his glove before the ball landed next to him, as Baty scored from third to make it 5-2.
Skenes lasted only two more batters, hitting catcher Francisco Alvarez in the arm. Kelly came out of the dugout after that, winning his ace after 37 throws.
During an in-game interview with NBC, he said the early release was “related to the number of casts”, as it is not very uncommon for a single frame to exceed 30 casts. Given that it’s early in the season and Skenes has a busy workload in the World Baseball Classic, which saw him throw over 70 pitches in his semifinals against the Dominican Republic, the Pirates made sure to be careful.
Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates leaves the field after being removed from the game 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. (Ishika Samant/Getty Images)
Skenes, 23, entered this season with a career 1.96 ERA over 55 starts for the Pirates (320.2 innings), as he quickly established himself as one of 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 meant that an opening day began to be forgotten in Queens.
