Jorge CastilloMar 26, 2026, 02:51 PM ET
- ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the Washington Wizards from 2014 to 2016 and the Washington Nationals from 2016 to 2018 for The Washington Post before covering the Los Angeles Dodgers and MLB for the Los Angeles Times from 2018 to 2024.
NEW YORK -- It was a stunning scene at Citi Field on Thursday afternoon: Paul Skenes, untouchable in his first two major league seasons, walking off the field to the sarcastic cheers from the sellout crowd after failing to survive the first inning on Opening Day.
Skenes, still just 23 years old, had never struggled to this extent over his first 55 career starts for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was as dominant as his 1.96 career ERA suggested.
But Skenes recorded just two outs against the New York Mets on Thursday, giving up five runs on four hits, two walks, and a hit batter in the Pirates' 11-7 loss. It was not how anyone envisioned Skenes launching his Cy Young Award defense. But he's not pressed.
"I'll rewatch it at some point," Skenes said, "but I'm not as upset about this for me personally as people would probably think."
Skenes rewatches all of his starts. What he'll see when he relives Thursday's outing is a frustrating sequence of events fueled by a lack of execution, some misfortune, a disciplined approach from the Mets' deep lineup, and disastrous defense behind him.
Skenes began his day with a seven-pitch walk to Francisco Lindor. Juan Soto then blooped a single, moving Lindor to third base, before Bo Bichette lifted an 0-2 changeup for a sacrifice fly and the Mets' first run.
A string of bad luck followed for Skenes. First, Jorge Polanco reached base with a swinging bunt in front of Skenes before Luis Robert Jr. worked a 10-pitch walk, fouling off five pitches before winning the clash, to load the bases.
"I'll certainly tip my cap to them," Skenes said. "I also need to be better."
Then came the backbreaking blow: Brett Baty cracked a line drive to center field that Cruz should have caught. But Cruz misread the ball and couldn't recover as the ball sailed over his head for a bases-clearing triple to give the Mets a 4-2 lead. Marcus Semien skied Skenes' next pitch to center field for a routine flyball, but Cruz lost it in the sun as Baty scored to make it 5-2.
"The next time, I need to have a better first step," Cruz said in Spanish.
Skenes recovered by striking out Carson Benge with three straight fastballs before hitting Francisco Alvarez with a pitch. That prompted Pittsburgh Pirates manager Don Kelly to take the ball from his ace right-hander with two outs and runners on first and second base, ending the shortest outing of Skenes' career.
"He's a competitor," Kelly said. "He wants to stay out there and pitch, and it's a really tough thing going to get him in the first inning right there. At the bottom of it is Paul's health. Getting close to 40 pitches, at 37 pitches, and Lindor had a seven pitch at-bat that first at-bat. If he runs another seven to 10, you're into dangerous territory with a starting pitcher in one inning so I just had to make the move."
The Mets made Skenes work. He generated just two whiffs through his first 30 pitches -- an unusually low percentage -- before Mets right fielder Carson Benge swung through three fastballs to strike out in his first career at-bat. The Mets fouled off 10 pitches, indicating Skenes could not put them away. By the end of it, Skenes' career ERA had ballooned to 2.10.
Skenes insisted he felt good, that his stuff felt sharp and he just didn't execute on a few pitches. It was just a bad day. It happens to everyone --- even, it turns out, to Paul Skenes.
"It's nice to get it out of the way," Skenes said.
