Players line up for introductions during an opening-day baseball game between the New York Mets and the Pittsburgh Pirates, Thursday, March 26, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

By The Canadian Press

New-look Mets knock out Skenes in 1st inning and sink Pirates 11-7 in season opener at Citi Field

Mar 26, 2026 | 3:02 PM

NEW YORK (AP) — Brett Baty laced a bases-loaded triple and the New York Mets chased Paul Skenes in the first inning of his worst major league start, beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-7 on Thursday in their season opener at Citi Field.

Carson Benge homered in his first career game, going back-to-back with Francisco Alvarez at the bottom of a new-look lineup, and Freddy Peralta (1-0) won his Mets debut as New York improved to 42-23 on opening day before a sellout crowd of 41,449.

That’s the best record of any big league team — even though the Mets lost their first eight openers from 1962-69.

Brandon Lowe homered twice and fellow Pirates newcomer Ryan O’Hearn also went deep, but Pittsburgh’s pitching and defense were dreadful in a disappointing start.

Center fielder Oneil Cruz botched consecutive plays in the first inning, helping the Mets score five runs off a surprisingly ineffective Skenes (0-1), matching his career high. Last year’s NL Cy Young Award winner was removed after getting only two outs on 37 pitches in the shortest of his 56 big league starts.

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With five new hitters in the order, the Mets ran deep counts early and drew eight walks while batting around twice in the first five innings.

Leadoff man Francisco Lindor took a trio of free passes and scored each time. Luis Robert Jr. had two RBI singles in his Mets debut. Benge and Alvarez launched solo homers off reliever Justin Lawrence to make it 11-5 in the sixth.

Pirates pitchers walked nine overall, surpassing last season’s high.

Peralta, a two-time All-Star acquired from Milwaukee in January, struck out seven and walked none over five innings in his third straight opening-day start — all in New York City.

Tobias Myers, obtained from the Brewers in the same trade, followed with three innings of one-run ball.

Pittsburgh opened on the road for the 10th consecutive year in the earliest start to a season for both teams.

Up next

Following a day off, Pirates RHP Mitch Keller (6-15, 4.19 ERA) starts the middle game of the series Saturday against LHP David Peterson (9-6, 4.22).

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Mike Fitzpatrick, The Associated Press