Paul Skenes made history by becoming the fastest No. 1 overall draft pick to make an Opening Day start. Then the 22-year-old right-hander made a case for why he’s the NL Cy Young favorite.
Then the Pittsburgh Pirates blew it.
The 2023 No. 1 overall pick of the MLB Draft, Skenes outdueled 2022 Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara before defensive lapses proved costly as the Pirates blew a two-run lead over the final two innings.
Nick Fortes hit a leadoff triple in the ninth when center fielder Oneil Cruz misplayed a fly ball, and Kyle Stowers singled to right to drive in the winning run and give the Marlins a 5-4 walk-off victory in the season opener Thursday afternoon at loanDepot park.
“We didn’t play good enough defense,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. “We had opportunities. We didn’t close it down. We had the lead late in the game, and we didn’t close it down. We didn’t play good defense.”
A shortstop-turned-center fielder, Cruz also made a critical mistake in the eighth when he threw to home plate and allowed the tying run to advance to second base. The Pirates also had an error and two passed balls that proved costly, nullifying a chance for Skenes to earn a victory.
At 22 years and 302 days, Skenes became the youngest Opening Day starter in franchise history since Frank Killen (22 years, 148 days) in 1893, and the youngest in MLB since the late Jose Fernandez (21 years, 243 days) did so for the Marlins on March 31, 2014.
Skenes and Alcantara recorded seven strikeouts apiece in one of MLB’s marquee mound matchups. Skenes called it a “pretty damn good start,” as he allowed two runs on three hits and two walks in 51⁄3 innings. Alcantara allowed two runs on two hits and four walks over 42⁄3 innings, averaging 98.2 mph and touching 99.8 on his four-seamer.
“He’s a really good pitcher,” Skenes said. “At the end of the day, I’ve got to go out there and pitch my game, regardless of who’s throwing on the other side. It probably put some fans in the stands but, on my end, not a ton of difference.”
Skenes threw fastballs on 76 of his 94 pitches, topping out at 99.9 mph with his four-seamer. The 6-foot-6, 260-pounder threw 64 pitches for strikes and generated 51 swings, including 16 whiffs and 24 fouls, and 13 called strikes.
Skenes struck out the first two batters he faced and four of the first six before Derek Hill hit a leadoff double down the left-field line in the third inning. Hill advanced to third on a forceout, then scored when Xavier Edwards grounded into a fielder’s choice to give the Marlins a 1-0 lead.
Making his first start since Sept. 3, 2023, after missing last season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, Alcantara touched 99.8 mph with his four-seamer but relied more on a sinker that averaged 97.2. He struck out seven and walked two before allowing the Pirates a hit.
That came with two outs in the fifth, when Ke’Bryan Hayes slapped a two-out single. Isiah Kiner-Falefa followed with a four-pitch walk. A double steal put both runners in scoring position, and Tommy Pham drew a full-count walk to load the bases for Bryan Reynolds.
Reynolds drilled a sharp grounder through the middle for a two-run single that scored Hayes and Kiner-Falefa to give the Pirates a 2-1 lead. Reynolds joined some select company by becoming the first Pirates hitter to record and RBI in three consecutive season openers since Willie Stargell did so in five straight from 1974-78.
“I thought we had a good approach off Alcantara,” Shelton said. “That’s elite stuff. … To be as sharp as he was on Opening Day, especially coming off an injury last year, that’s what an ace looks like. That’s what a No. 1 looks like. I thought we continued to grind through at-bats and did a good job.”
Where Alcantara labored through a 28-pitch fifth, Skenes needed only six in the bottom half. First baseman Endy Rodriguez made an error on a grounder by Griffin Conine, but Skenes got Hill to pop up to second and Graham Pauley to line out to Rodriguez for a double play.
Lake Bachar replaced Alcantara and struck out Cruz to end the fifth but hit Joey Bart with a pitch to start the sixth. With one out, Nick Gonzales sent a 1-0 fastball 374 feet to left field for a two-run homer to give the Pirates a 4-1 lead in his first Opening Day start. Gonzales tweaked his left ankle while rounding the bases and was removed from the game and replaced by veteran Adam Frazier.
Skenes recorded his seventh strikeout, getting Nick Fortes swinging at a 97.9-mph fastball, but then issued back-to-back full-count walks to Edwards and Stowers. Dennis Santana replaced Skenes, only to walk Jonah Bride to load the bases.
A passed ball by Bart on Santana’s first-pitch changeup to Matt Mervis allowed Edwards to score and cut it to 4-2. Santana was pulled after walking Otto Lopez to load the bases again, but lefty Ryan Borucki recovered from a 3-0 count to get pinch hitter Dane Myers looking at a called third strike on a slider to strand the runners and protect the lead.
Stowers drew a leadoff walk against Colin Holderman in the eighth, then scored on a single to center by Lopez to cut it to 4-3. Cruz was the eighth different player to start in center field in as many years for the Pirates, and he made a costly mistake by throwing to home plate and allowing Lopez to advance to second base. Myers made the Pirates pay by following with the tying single to center to drive in Lopez.
“We’ve got to keep the tying run at (first) base,” Shelton said. “We cannot throw the ball to the plate.”
Pauley hit a grounder deep in the hole to short, but Kiner-Falefa made a backhand and threw to third for the forceout, as Hayes picked the ball out of the dirt for the final out.
After a one-out double by Tommy Pham and a Reynolds walk in the ninth, Jesus Tinoco got Cruz to fly out to center and struck out Bart to escape as the Pirates went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position and left nine runners on base.
The Pirates turned to two-time All-Star closer David Bednar, only for Fortes to hit a fly ball to deep right-center that Cruz misplayed. Fortes raced around the bases for a leadoff triple. Janvier Sanoja pinch-ran for Fortes and scored when Stowers delivered the game-winning hit.
Shelton was more disgusted with the Pirates’ defense than their bullpen.
“It’s one game in,” Shelton said. “We have guys that have to perform. I have faith that our guys will get it done.”
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