Right-hander Paul Skenes experienced the worst start of his Pittsburgh Pirates career on Opening Day to begin the 2026 season. Skenes allowed five runs and didn’t make it out of the first inning.
But he’s not panicking. After the rough outing, Skenes gave credit to the New York Mets and then pointed to favorable analytics to explain how he will bounce back.
“They did a really good job,” Skenes told reporters after Thursday’s start, via CBS Sports’s Julian McWilliams. “In the moment, maybe a little frustrating, just gotta execute earlier. They did a good job.”
Skenes retired just one of the first seven batters he faced. He struck out the eighth hitter, but then after the Mets lineup turned over following a hit-by-pitch, Pirates manager Don Kelly removed Skenes for a reliever.
In addition to the hit batsman, Skenes walked two hitters.
“I walked the leadoff guy,” Skenes added. “Didn’t execute with two strikes when I needed a punchout or a double play there. Yea, a few things.”
Skenes exited after giving up five runs. Still, the reigning National League Cy Young winner saw positives in the outing.
“You’ve gotta look at it for what it is, there wasn’t a ton of hard contact,” Skenes added. “Leadoff walk is not great. Some balls landed, the Polanco groundball. You know, stuff like that.
“The batting average on balls in play thing was super high today, that’ll go down as the season goes on.”
The Pirates fell in the season opener to the Mets 11-7 at Citi Field.
Paul Skenes on the Wrong Side of History on 2026 MLB Opening Day
It was an afternoon to forget for Skenes. According to the Peacock stream Thursday, the right-hander became the first defending Cy Young winner to not complete the first inning in his first start the following season.
Skenes allowed five runs on four hits. He threw just 37 pitches to nine batters before exiting. Skenes registered one strikeout.
The Pirates actually jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first. That lead quickly vanished, though, after Skenes’s rough outing.
Behind some of the team’s key offensive acquisitions this past offseason, the Pirates scored seven runs. The team hit three homers, which was more than the Mets.
But Pittsburgh was unable to climb out of the first inning hole.
The outing was shortest of Skenes’s MLB career. Last year, his shortest start went 3.2 frames.
Skenes Gets No Support From Oneil Cruz in CF
The 2025 NL Cy Young winner didn’t have a good afternoon Thursday. But it wasn’t as bad as Oneil Cruz’s in center field.
If not for two blunders from Cruz, Skenes could have escaped the first inning with minimal damage and remained in the game.
On the hardest hit ball against Skenes, Cruz allowed the line drive to land over his head after he took a step in toward the infield. The hit landed for a 3-run triple.
The next batter hit a pop-up to center field. Cruz lost the ball in the sun, which resulted in a double.
Neither play counted as an error in the box score. But Cruz arguably could have caught both balls. The second one was a routine play.
That wasn’t the defensive performance the Pirates were looking for from Cruz to begin 2026. A former shortstop, the Pirates moved Cruz to center field hoping his athleticism would help him roam the outfield.
On Thursday, it didn’t look like Cruz belonged in center on an MLB field.