Final Score: Pirates 7 Mets 11
Why The Pirates Lost: A disastrous 1st inning that saw Oneil (I Don’t Need Sunglasses) Cruz misplay one ball and lose another in the sun. This accounted for 3 of the Mets’ 5 first inning runs. The Pirates’ pitching staff helped the Mets along by walking 9 and hitting one batter. The Mets’ pitchers did not walk a batter. The Pirates did score 7 runs. Last year they scored 7 or more runs 24 times and managed to lose 3 of them. Only 2 more losses to match that record. Paul Skenes did not look sharp, but with any luck, he would have gotten out of the inning with only 2 runs scoring. The Pirates did manage 10 hits, with Ozuna and Horwitz the only Pirates held hitless. It was not a good opening day for the Pirates as the pitching and defense were pretty putrid. The Pirates did hit 3 home runs, two by Brandon Lowe and one by Ryan O’Hearn. The bullpen tried to keep the Pirates in the game, with Yohan Ramirez pitching 2 and 1/3 innings of shutout ball. However, Isaac Mattson had a rough outing. In 2/3 of an inning, he gave up 2 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks. One of the walks was with the bases loaded. The Mets went long ball off Justin Lawrence to round out the scoring. The bullpen’s line was 8 and 1/3 innings, giving up 6 runs on 7 hits while walking 7. Thanks to the Pirates’ inept pitching, the game was 3 hours and 8 minutes long. The Pirates made it a little interesting in the top of the 9th but fell well short of making a game of it.
Key Moments of the Game: It was the shocking 1st inning after the Pirates had grabbed a 2-0 lead in the top of the 1st on Lowe’s 2-run homer. Skenes set the tone for the day by walking the leadoff hitter, Francisco Lindor. Juan Soto looped an 83 MPH line drive to center for a single. Lindor tried to go to third and just barely made it on a bang-bang play. I was a little surprised the Pirates did not challenge. Bo Bichette hit a sacrifice fly pop down the right field line. Jorge Polanco hit a check-swing dribbler at 44 MPH down the 3rd base line for an infield hit. Luis Robert Jr. had what I thought was the key at-bat of the inning. After 3 pitches, he was behind in the count 1 and 2. He then fouled off 4 more pitches and was able to work a 10-pitch walk. This loaded the bases and set up the Cruz missile misfiring. Brett Baty hit a 103 MPH liner out to Oneil Cruz, where he took a fatal step in before going back and never came close to catching the ball. The ball only traveled 369 feet to straightaway centerfield. This cleared the bases, and then things got worse. Marcus Semien hit an 82 MPH pop-up out to center that Cruz let drop because he lost it in the sun. Skenes struck out the next batter and hit the following one. After 37 pitches, Skenes was removed. The Mets had scored 5 runs with only one ball hit over 83 MPH and none that traveled over 369 feet. From that point on, the bullpen allowed another 6 runs, helped along with all those walks.
Next Game: Tomorrow, Mets in New York at 4:10 PM. Mitch Keller will make his first start of 2026. Let’s hope he can get out of the first inning. Right now, the Mets are going to throw lefty David Peterson. It will be interesting to see if Cruz is in the starting lineup. In my opinion, he should not be. What a first inning to start the season. Better to have a first inning like that to start the season rather than one in an elimination game. Not that it would have made any difference, but the opening day batting order was a bit of a head scratcher. I still don’t think that Cruz should lead off. Jared Triolo batting 6th? I don’t know. However, let’s face it, the offense did not lose this one; pitching and defense just fell flat on their faces. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 