The New York Mets capitalized on some bad defense to chase Pirates starter Paul Skenes and win 11-7 on Opening Day.
The New York Mets showcased their new lineup, their new approach and their new ace in an Opening Day victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates, 11-7, that featured the early departure of Pirates ace Paul Skenes due to his wildness and some poor defense behind him.
Mets starter Freddy Peralta also got off to a rough start, giving up a two-run blast to Brandon Lowe in the first, and Lowe got him again for a solo shot in the third. But the Mets put up a five-spot on Skenes in the bottom of the first, mostly due to some dreadful defense by Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz, who made a pair of back-to-back miscues.
Skenes wasn't totally horrendous, but his wildness definitely cost him, and Pirates pitchers lost this game in large part because they couldn’t throw strikes and ended up with a total of nine walks. The Pirates were still within striking distance down 6-4 in the fourth, but the Mets continued to chip away until the offense finally exploded in the sixth.
That explosion came courtesy of right fielder Carson Benge and catcher Francisco Alvarez, who played home run derby with back-to-back solo shots. Benge caught a hanging breaking ball and hit it out to right, after which Alvarez outdid him with a massive home run into the second deck in left.
The Mets actually had a pair of pitching heroes in this one. Peralta wasn’t especially sharp, as the home runs proved, but he fought his way through five innings while throwing 80 pitches and going long enough to get his first win as a Met.
The other hero was reliever Tobias Myers, who will play an important role for the Mets this year in the swing role, and he could even end up in the rotation. Myers gave the Mets three solid innings in which he gave up just one run, which came on the third Pirates home run of the day by right fielder Ryan O’Hearn.
Things got a little sloppy for the Mets in the ninth as reliever Luis Garcia got knocked around for a pair of runs, and the Mets actually had to have new closer Devin Williams warm up before Garcia settled down and retired the side.
Skenes’ struggles aside, this day will be remembered mostly for Benge’s big debut on Opening Day. He struck out twice and looked especially overwhelmed by Skenes during his first bat, but Benge then did exactly what he’s done through spring training, which is figure things out and rebound quickly. He ended up with the home run, a pair of walks and his first stolen base as Benge once again showed that he belonged.