PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Of all the scenarios of how Opening Day could play out, Paul Skenes being pulled in the first inning while Brandon Lowe hits two homers and the offense scored seven runs in a loss wasn’t a remote possibility. That’s how it played out as Skenes, hurt by a couple of misplayed balls, lasted only two-thirds of an inning in an 11-7 loss at the New York Mets.
Coming off winning the NL Cy Young Award, Skenes faced nine Mets batters while getting only two outs before leaving in the first inning. He gave up more runs in his first start of 2026, five, than he gave up all of last September, three. There were a couple of plays O’Neil Cruz could have made in center that were ruled hits as Skenes threw 37 pitches before being pulled for Yohan Ramirez.
The bullpen combined to give up six runs over 7.1 innings, two each by Mason Montgomery, Isaac Mattson and Justin Lawrence.
Lowe 2 home runs
Second-baseman Brandon Lowe homered in the top of the first for a 2-0 lead joining Edward Olivares (last year), Reggie Sanders (2003) and John Vander Wal (2000) as one of only four players to homer in their first at bats with the Pirates.
He hit a second home run in his second at bat, becoming the seventh Pirates player to have a two-homer game on Opening Day (Garrett Jones, Xavier Nady, Andy Van Slyke, Willie Stargell, Richie Hebner, Dale Long).
Lowe is the first Pirates player ever to hit home runs in his first two plate appearances with the team. He’s one of three to homer twice in his Pirates debut joining Derrek Lee and Shawon Dunston.
Notes
- Free agent signee Ryan O’Hearn hit his first home run as a Pirate
- C Henry Davis had an RBI double
- 3B Nick Gonzales had two hits and two RBI
Pirates are off Friday and continue at the Mets at 4:10 on Saturday on 93.7 The Fan.
Paul Skenes ERA 67.50 after Opening Day loss
