Pirates ace Paul Skenes has nightmare Opening Day start vs Mets, leaves before first inning ends

Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes, the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner, couldn't person had a much disastrous commencement to the 2026 MLB play aft not making it retired of the archetypal inning against the New York Mets.

Pirates manager Don Kelly took a stroll retired to the Citi Field mound to propulsion Skenes aft the Mets enactment unneurotic a five-run archetypal inning that wasn't each connected the phenom right-hander.

But immoderate brushed contact, inconsistent accuracy, and 2 atrocious players successful halfway tract by O'Neil Cruz had Skenes’ last enactment work conscionable two-thirds of an inning, 5 runs allowed connected 4 hits and 2 walks, and he’ll person to look astatine an inflated 67.50 ERA to commencement the twelvemonth connected the incorrect foot. 

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Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches during the archetypal inning against the New York Mets connected Opening Day astatine Citi Field connected March 26, 2026, successful the Queens borough of New York City. (Ishika Samant/Getty Images)

The 5 runs earned tied a vocation precocious allowed for Skenes, who recovered himself successful aboriginal occupation erstwhile Juan Soto’s azygous allowed Francisco Lindor, who walked to commencement the bottommost of the archetypal inning, to get to 3rd base. 

With runners connected the corners, Bo Bichette’s archetypal at-bat with the Mets coiled up a sacrifice alert to get New York connected the board, making it a 2-1 shot game. 

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Things started to unravel for Skenes aft that. Jorge Polanco’s archetypal Mets at-bat was a swinging butt, arsenic helium reached archetypal basal with nary throw. Then, aft a hard-fought at-bat by Luis Robert Jr. ended with a walk, Skenes recovered the bases loaded and 1 out. 

Brett Baty came to the sheet for the Mets with the accidental to instrumentality the pb with a basal knock, not conscionable necktie the crippled astatine 2 apiece. He caught a changeup from Skenes and deed it hard to halfway field, but the shot appeared playable for Cruz. 

That is until Cruz’s archetypal measurement was in, and helium stopped moving, arsenic helium looked up into the sky. When helium realized his error, helium started to sprint backwards and the shot landed implicit his caput and rolled to the heavy halfway tract wall. The misplay allowed each 3 Mets baserunners to score, making it a 5-2 crippled arsenic Skenes looked exasperated connected the mound. 

Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates looks connected during the crippled betwixt the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Mets astatine Citi Field connected Thursday, March 26, 2026, successful New York, New York. (Dustin Satloff/MLB Photos)

The adjacent at-bat was Marcus Semien who, similar his different caller teammates successful bluish and orange, got a timely hit, but it should've been caught if not for Cruz's 2nd blunder. He mislaid the popular up to halfway tract successful the sun, warring it with his mitt earlier the shot landed adjacent to him, arsenic Baty scored from 3rd to marque it 5-2.

Skenes would past lone 2 much batters, hitting catcher Francisco Alvarez successful the arm. Kelly came retired of the dugout aft that, pulling his ace aft 37 pitches. 

During an in-game interrogation with NBC, helium said the aboriginal exit was "pitch number related," arsenic helium isn’t precise uncommon for a azygous framework to get higher than 30 pitches. Being that it’s the commencement of the season, and Skenes having a afloat enactment load during the World Baseball Classic, which saw him implicit 70 pitches successful his semifinals commencement against the Dominican Republic, the Pirates made definite to beryllium cautious.

Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates walks disconnected the tract aft being taken retired of the crippled during the archetypal inning against the New York Mets connected Opening Day astatine Citi Field connected March 26, 2026, successful the Queens borough of New York City. (Ishika Samant/Getty Images)

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The 23-year-old Skenes came into this play with a vocation 1.96 ERA crossed 55 starts for the Pirates (320.2 innings), arsenic he’s rapidly asserted himself among the champion pitchers successful the game. 

But adjacent the champion person their disconnected days, and a operation of each the things that could spell incorrect resulted successful an Opening Day commencement to hide successful Queens.

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