Nightmare in New York: Skenes Knocked Early, Pirates Drubbed on Opening Day; Lowe Makes Big Impression
Normally, a two-homer performance on Opening Day would be the headline.
But overshadowing Brandon Lowe’s two-homer game was a nightmare bottom of the first inning and a feeble performance from the pitching staff that resulted in an 11-7 loss for the Pittsburgh Pirates against the New York Mets on Thursday afternoon at Citi Field.
Scoring Plays
Top 1st, 2-0 Pirates: Brandon Lowe got the Pirates ahead early with a two-run home run on the first pitch he saw. The blast off Mets starter Freddy Peralta (1-0) traveled 337 feet and just barely snuck over the fence in right field.
Bottom 1st, 5-2 Mets: Bo Bichette cut Pittsburgh’s lead in half with a sacrifice fly to right field. Later in the inning, Brett Baty cleared the bases with what was scored a three-run triple after on Oneil Cruz misplay in center field. Baty scored on the very next at-bat on another misplay from Cruz which resulted in an RBI-double for Marcus Semien.
Top 3rd, 5-3 Mets: Brandon Lowe connected on his second home run of the game off Freddy Peralta His 401-foot solo shot to right-center was his second in as many trips to the plate.
Bottom 4th, 6-3 Mets: Luis Robert Jr. padded New York’s lead with an RBI single to left field off Pirates reliever Mason Montgomery.
Top 5th, 6-4 Mets: The Pirates got the run back on a Henry Davis double down the left field line against Freddy Peralta. Nick Gonzales scored on the play.
Bottom 5th, 9-4 Mets: Isaac Mattson entered the game with traffic and allowed three runs to score in the fifth. Juan Soto record an RBI single, Jorge Polanco walked with the bases loaded and Luis Robert Jr. brought home a run on an infield single.
Top 6th, 9-5 Mets: Ryan O’Hearn became the second offseason acquisition to homer for the Pirates. He hit an opposite-field solo home run to left field off Tobias Myers.
Bottom 6th, 11-5 Mets: Rookie Carson Benge’s first-career hit was a solo home run to right field off Justin Lawrence. Francisco Alvarez immediately followed with a solo shot to left field.
Bottom 9th, 11-7 Mets: Nick Gonzales plated a pair with a one-out double off Luis García.
Key Moment
Oneil Cruz’s two misplays in center field in the first inning led to disaster, both for the Pirates and for the unusually-erratic Paul Skenes (0-1). Were they the only reason the Pittsburgh lost? No, but the game could’ve looked much different had he made those plays.
Player of the Game
Despite the loss, Brandon Lowe made quite the impression in his Pirates’ debut.
Stat to Know
Brandon Lowe became the seventh player in team history to homer twice on Opening Day and the first since Garrett Jones in 2010. He also became the third player to homer twice in his team debut and the first since Derrek Lee in 2011.
Notable Performances
- Paul Skenes: 0.2 innings, four hits, five runs, two walks, one strikeout, 37 pitches/26 strikes
- Brandon Lowe: 2 for 4, two home runs, three RBI, two run
- Ryan O’Hearn: 2 for 4, one home run, one RBI, two runs
- Nick Gonzales: 2 for 4, one double, two RBI
Noteworthy
- This was the shortest outing of Paul Skenes’ career. His previous shortest was a scheduled two-inning start in his final appearance against of the 2024 season against the New York Yankees.
- Pirates pitchers walked nine batters and allowed 11 hits in the loss.
- The first ABS challenge involving the Pirates took place in the top of the third inning. In a full count, a pitch from Freddy Peralta was originally ruled a ball by Adrian Johnson but was overturned to strike three.
- The Pirates are now 74-66 all-time in season openers.
Up Next
The Pirates (0-1) are off on Friday and will resume their three-game series with the Mets (1-0) on Saturday. RHP Mitch Keller will make his season debut opposite LHP David Peterson. First pitch: 4:10 p.m. ET.
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