Pirates ace Paul Skenes pulled in 1st inning of season opener

NEW YORK — Paul Skenes’ defense of his Cy Young Award is off to an inauspicious start.

Skenes, thanks in part to center fielder ONeil Cruz botching two fly balls, recorded just two outs before he was pulled from Thursday’s season opener against the New York Mets — a shocking result for one of baseball’s top pitchers.

Skenes began with a seven-pitch walk to Francisco Lindor. Juan Soto then lined a single, moving Lindor to third base, before Bo Bichette hit a sacrifice fly for the Mets’ first run.

A string of misfortune followed for Skenes. First, Jorge Polanco reached base with a swinging bunt in front of Skenes before Luis Robert Jr. worked a 10-pitch walk, fouling off five pitches before winning the clash, to load the bases.

Then came the backbreaking blow: Brett Baty cracked a line drive to center field that Cruz should have caught. But Cruz misread the ball and couldn’t recover as the ball sailed over his head for a bases-clearing triple to give the Mets a 4-2 lead. Marcus Semien lifted Skenes’ next pitch to center field for a routine fly ball, but Cruz lost it in the sun as Baty scored to make it 5-2.

Skenes recovered by striking out Carson Benge with three straight fastballs before hitting Francisco Alvarez with a pitch. That prompted Pittsburgh Pirates manager Don Kelly to take the ball from his ace right-hander with two outs and runners on first and second base, ending the shortest outing of Skenes’ career.

Skenes threw 37 pitches, 26 for strikes. He generated just five swing-and-misses while the Mets compiled 10 foul balls. The Mets made him work, and the defense behind him didn’t help.