Pirates Pull Paul Skenes After Disastrous First Inning on Opening Day
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates will rely on Paul Skenes throughout the 2026 season, but his first start was not what anyone was expecting.
Skenes didn't make it through the first inning on Opening Day vs. the New York Mets at Citi Field, giving up four hits, two walks and five earned runs and getting just two outs on 37 pitches.
Pirates manager Don Kelly took Skenes out for right-handed relief pitcher Yohan Ramírez, who would get the final out to keep the damage to just 5-2.
Skenes has a 67.50 ERA after his first start and this marks his first MLB start that he got taken out in the first inning. It also marked the first five-run inning of his MLB career.
How the First Inning Transpired for Skenes
Skenes gave up a leadoff walk to shortstop Francisco Lindor and then a single to left fielder Juan Soto, putting Mets runners on the conrers with no outs.
He got his first out on a sacrifice fly from third baseman Bo Bichette, which saw the Mets cut the deficit to just 2-1.
Skenes gave up a single to first baseman Jorge Polanco and walked center fielder Luis Robert Jr., which loaded the bases.
He then got a fly ball from designated hitter Brent Baty, but Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz started too far in and it went over his head for a bases-clearing triple, putting the Mets up 4-2.
Cruz would again make a mistake on the next at-bat, missing a fly ball in the sun from second baseman Marcus Semien, which brought Baty home and then made it a 5-2 deficit for the Pirates.
Skenes struck out right fielder Carson Benge for the second out, but hit catcher Francisco Alvarez and that ended his outing after only two outs.
Pirates manager Don Kelly spoke with NBC Sports field reporter Ahmed Fareed after making the surprising decision, saying that it was more on not wanting to get his pitch count too high up and that they needed to respond after a tough inning.
"It's all pitch count related really for him," Kelly said. "We didn't want to put him in harms way again up in the 40-pitch count. If we get into a foul battle there, we don't want to put him into the mid-40s.
Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.