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It was an opening day to forget for the Pittsburgh Pirates, and specifically, ace pitcher Paul Skenes. After only 2/3 of an inning, he was pulled from the 11-7 loss to the New York Mets to a rowdy and raucous applause at Citi Field.
There are a couple of things to take away from this, as is the rest of the first official day of the 2026 Major League Baseball season.
Bleacher Report released their comprehensive list of overreactions from the first full day, and it included Skenes poor outing. An overreaction, stating that Skenes has lost his touch, which was 100% correct.
Looking further into how bad this start was, everybody has an off-day. It is just unfortunate that it was in the first Pirates game since September 28 of last year. Fans have been waiting for this season, which was supposed to be a complete turnaround with an influx of acquired talent and skill. Plus, Skenes with proper run-support is a recipe for his place as a back-to-back NL Cy Young Award winner.
Just a bad day
This was just a bad day all around. The Mets’ faithful were loud and ready to support their home squad, and after Skenes was unable to get out of the initial frame, they let him have it.
Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz had a couple of misplays on the ball, a hit-by-pitch that was suspect to say the least, and the raw power of this Mets lineup was a key component to Skenes' bad day on the mound. There is very little chance that a start like this will happen again this season, and possibly, not for the rest of his long career ahead.
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