Paul Skenes’ quick exit in Opening Day disaster is another Pirates gut-punch

Pittsburgh Pirates fans felt something different on Opening Day as Paul Skenes walked to the mound for the bottom of the first inning against the New York Mets.

Hope.

After the Pirates scored a pair of runs in the top of the first inning on Thursday, Pirates fans likely felt they could believe again, with their team’s ace walking to the mound to face the revamped Mets lineup.

After just two outs, and five earned runs, that hope was gone along with Skenes from the game.

The Mets knocked Skenes around in the bottom of the first inning, putting five runs on the board and sending the Pittsburgh ace to the showers early. The inning began innocently enough, with a walk to Francisco Lindor and then a single from Juan Soto that sent the Mets infielder to third. That’s when Bo Bichette, one of the new members of the Mets, lifted a fly ball to right:

The sacrifice fly brought one run home, cutting Pittsburgh’s lead in half.

But the Mets were just getting started.

An infield single followed by a walk loaded the bases for Brett Baty, who lofted a fly ball to deep center field. There was just one problem, however: Center fielder Oneil Cruz started in as the ball came off the bat, breaking a cardinal rule of outfield play.

The fly ball — that could have been a relatively harmless sacrifice fly — sailed over his head, allowing the Mets to clear the bases:

Cruz likely wanted to run and hide somewhere, but in a sport like baseball, sometimes it is in those moments when the ball has a knack of finding you again. Which is exactly what happened when infielder Marcus Semien lofted another fly ball to Cruz in center:

The outfielder fought the sun, and the sun won.

The play was ruled a double, which, ok sure.

Skenes was able to get the second out of the inning on a strikeout of Carson Benge, but then plunked Francisco Alvarez with a sinker that ran inside.

That is when Skenes’ time on the bump came to an end, as he was lifted for Yohan Ramírez as the Mets had built a 5-2 lead.

The final line for Skenes on Opening Day? 0.2 innings pitched, four hits, five runs, five earned runs, two walks, and one strikeout. Although to be fair, some of those could be scored as unearned given the plays in the field.

But as things stand, what is his current ERA? 67.50.

To quote Ted Lasso, “it’s the hope that kills you.”