NYC Baseball Report: Mets Offense Spoils Opening Day For Paul Skenes, Pirates

NEW YORK — Nobody could’ve predicted the first Citi Field standing ovation of the season would be for Paul Skenes. The new-look Mets lineup pummeled the reigning National League Cy Young award winner, with contributions from fresh and familiar faces alike, in an 11-7 win over the Pirates on a sunny Opening Day in Flushing. Skenes shockingly gave up five earned runs and didn’t make it out of the first inning — much to the delight of the sold-out crowd of 41,449. Once they picked up their jaws off the floor, fans got on their feet and applauded as the Pirates ace gave the ball to the bullpen and walked off the mound with his head down. Considered the best pitcher in baseball, Skenes was pulled by Pirates manager Don Kelly after recording just two outs on 37 pitches. Yes, the Mets offense was that relentless. Skenes had only two whiffs on 17 swings. The first seven Mets batters all had productive at-bats, either getting on base or contributing with a sacrifice fly. Skenes, coming off an early-season start after pitching in this year's World Baseball Classic, didn’t have his best stuff on Opening Day, and the Mets were all over it. Brett Baty’s three-run triple that Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz misjudged was the exclamation point of the Mets’ commanding opening frame. "That first inning was pretty impressive," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said in the press conference room. "I’m not going to lie. If you want to beat guys like this, you’re going to have to play perfect baseball." It was the shortest outing of Skenes' career, and the shortest Opening Day start ever by a reigning Cy Young winner. There was no better image than Skenes’ dejected face in the visitor’s dugout to portray just how dangerous this Mets offense can be this year. After the club’s humiliating end to the 2025 season, letting the Cincinnati Reds sneak into the playoffs while the Mets packed up their lockers in September, Mets fans waited five long months to feel any amount of hope or optimism that this winter’s extreme and emotional roster turnover just might work. Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns took a sledgehammer to the team's longtime core, and then he asked loyalists who have been waiting 40 years for the Amazins to win a World Series to trust him. After the fireworks show the Mets displayed on Thursday, it’s hard not to believe in Stearns’ vision. Mets right fielder Carson Benge’s first major-league hit was also his first-career home run, a solo shot to right field in the sixth inning. He became the first Met to homer in his MLB debut on Opening Day since Kazuo Matsui did so in 2004. New offseason additions Jorge Polanco, Luis Robert Jr. and Marcus Semien combined to go 5-for-12. Francisco Lindor (three walks and three runs scored) and Juan Soto (2-for-4 with a walk, RBI and run scored) set the tone at the top of the lineup. Francisco Alvarez sent a moonshot off the face of the second deck. The Mets’ 11 runs scored are tied for the second-most runs they’ve scored on Opening Day. New ace Freddy Peralta threw two mistakes in his Mets debut, and Pirates second baseman Brandon Lowe took him deep on both of them. Peralta gave up four earned runs, struck out seven, and walked away with a win. Afterward, Peralta waited patiently for dozens of reporters to flood into the Mets clubhouse before answering questions on his debut in New York. The enormous media presence doesn’t compare to the smaller scrums he handled during his eight years in Milwaukee. If Peralta was phased by the ridiculous amount of microphones in his face, no one could tell. "Amazing," the always-smiling Peralta said of the jubilant Opening Day atmosphere at his new home ballpark. "Personally, it’s something that helps me get better. I can’t wait to see the fans like that the rest of the year, the same way." The Mets clubhouse was already injected with new confidence before Thursday’s first pitch. Leaving spring training, the team had high expectations for itself. One look at a locker room brimming with championship-pedigree veterans and young stars with everything to prove, and it was obvious to anyone paying attention that this blend of big-leaguers might just be the answer to the organization’s championship drought. But after a win like that? Players flashed some noticeable swagger. They found an edge. They walked with an attitude. It showed up in the quiet confidence of Semien’s been there, done that perspective. It showed up in Soto’s unique and everpresent hunger to be the best, to do whatever it takes to win. It showed up on the field during the team’s no-error defensive day, despite the Mets rostering two players in Polanco and Bo Bichette who had never played their new positions in a major-league game. It even showed up in Bichette’s 13-pitch at-bat against Isaac Mattson in the fifth inning. Bichette fouled off seven straight pitches as the crowd’s interest and noise level grew on every swing. He eventually struck out on a high heater, but the entire at-bat was electric, and it was still advantageous to the dialed-in Mets offense. Polanco was in the on-deck circle watching Mattson empty his entire arsenal against Bichette. When Polanco came up to the plate, he worked a walk with the bases loaded, scoring the eighth run of the game. "We got a lot of guys that are going to grind at-bats," Mendoza said. "And that was the perfect example. Even if we didn’t get the result we wanted in that particular situation, the other guy benefitted from it." Throughout all the high points of Opening Day, what stood out above everything else was Benge’s big smile and excitement about his headline-making debut. It was infectious. Nobody in the dugout could stop smiling after Benge rounded first base and leaped into the air once his home-run ball landed in the home bullpen. Not even a dead pigeon, which dropped with a "thud" next to Benge in right field at some point during the game, could break his positive attitude. Not even his first at-bat, a strikeout against Skenes, prevented him from keeping his head up. "Just calm down," Benge said of his internal monologue after he whiffed on three fastballs in his first-ever trip to a big-league plate. "Just take a deep breath. Calm down. Great atmosphere, great fans. Just trying to bring myself back down so I can compete." All the new personalities in the Mets clubhouse have helped to answer the myriad questions that followed the organization throughout the offseason. But, despite the good vibes in Queens after a celebratory season opener, players were cautious about how to describe their victory. They know they have to sustain Thursday’s level of excellence throughout the course of the full season. This was only the first page of a 162-game journey. And even after all that, these new-look, new-attitude Mets expect their year to end with a ring in November. "That’s what we showed today, what we can do," Bichette said in a quiet and steady voice in front of his locker, which is tucked away in a corner of the clubhouse. "But I think a great offense brings it every day. Today’s a good thing to build off for sure. But, looking forward to doing more." Deesha Thosar covers Major League Baseball as a reporter and columnist for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.