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Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes, the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner, couldn’t have had a more disastrous start to the 2026 MLB season after failing to get out of the first inning against the New York Mets.
Pirates manager Don Kelly strolled to the mound at Citi Field to pull Skenes after the Mets put together a five-run first inning that didn’t rely solely on the right-handed phenom.
But soft contact, inconsistent accuracy and two bad players in center field from O’Neil Cruz made Skenes’ final line read just two-thirds of an inning, five runs allowed, four hits and two walks, and he’ll have to look at an inflated ERA of 67.50 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 trouble early on when Juan Soto’s single allowed Francisco Lindor, who walked leading 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 ended with a sacrifice fly to put New York on the board, making the game 2-1.
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Things started to fall apart for Skenes after that. Jorge Polanco’s first at-bat with the Mets was a huge coup, as he reached first base without a throw. Then, after a close 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 a chance to take the lead with a base hit, not just tie the game at two apiece. He caught a Skenes changeup and hit it hard toward center field, but the ball looked playable for Cruz.
That was until Cruz took the first step and stopped moving as he looked up at the sky. When he realized his mistake, he began running backwards and the ball landed on his head and rolled toward the deep center field wall. The poor play allowed all three of the Mets’ baserunners to score, making it a 5-2 game as Skenes looked exasperated on the mound.
Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates watches 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 at bat was Marcus Semien who, like his other new teammates in blue and orange, took a timely hit, but should have been caught if not for Cruz’s second error. He missed the fly ball to center field in the sun, fighting it with his glove before the ball landed next to him, as Baty scored from third to make the score 5-2.
Skenes would last only two more batters, hitting catcher Francisco Álvarez in the arm. Kelly left the dugout after that, serving his ace after 37 pitches.
During an in-game interview with NBC, he said the early exit was “related to pitch count,” as it’s not very unusual for a single frame to exceed 30 pitches. Given that it’s early in the season and Skenes has a full workload during the World Baseball Classic, in which he threw more than 70 pitches in his semifinal start against the Dominican Republic, the Pirates made sure to be cautious.
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 City. (Ishika Samant/Getty Images)
Skenes, 23, began this season with a career 1.96 ERA in 55 starts for the Pirates (320.2 innings), and quickly established himself among the game’s best pitchers.
But even the best have their bad days, and a combination of all the things that could go wrong made for a forgettable Opening Day start in Queens.
