Miami – Hyped as the most appealing starting pitchers’ matchup of Opening Day, Paul Skenes outlasted Sandy Alcántara but neither was involved in the decision of the Miami Marlins’ 5-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday.
Pittsburgh’s Skenes is the reigning NL Rookie of the Year. Alcántara, the veteran Marlins right-hander who won the NL Cy Young Award in 2022, missed last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Skenes struck out seven over 5 2/3 innings of two-run ball. The 22-year-old right-hander had a 4-1 lead but was lifted after issuing consecutive walks to Xavier Edwards and Kyle Stowers in the sixth.
“I got a little sloppy there at the end,” Skenes said. “I had to execute a little quicker in that sixth inning. Not getting into those 3-2 counts and that’s probably a different story at the end.”
Alcántara’s outing ended after he allowed a two-run single to Bryan Reynolds in the fifth that put the Pirates ahead 2-1. Alcántara gave up two runs, two hits, struck out seven and walked four.
He kept Pittsburgh hitless until Ke’Bryan Hayes’ two-out single in the fifth. Alcántara then walked Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Tommy Pham.
“We know I didn’t do my best job out there,” Alcántara said. “I was trying to give it my best but if you take away the walks from the fifth, the results would have been better.”
Even after his sluggish end, Skenes was in line for the victory in the first opening day start of his career. But Pirates relievers Colin Holderman and David Bednar allowed three runs over the final two innings that gave Miami the walkoff win.
“It’s early and there are always adjustments to be made,” Skenes said. “We’ll do that. It was a cool environment. A lot of energy in the building.”
Skenes acknowledged the matchup against Alcántara.
“He’s a really good pitcher but at the end of the day I have to go out there and pitch my game,” Skenes said.
Alcántara had not pitched since Sept. 3, 2023. He immediately proved he was ready in the at-bat against Pham to start the game. The seven-year veteran threw only fastballs that ranged between 98.1 and 99.6 mph to strike Pham out.
“I had a lot of emotion out there. I was close to crying but I’m hard to cry,” Alcántara said. “Finally, I’m back in a big league mound. Grateful to God that I returned to my mound here in Miami to compete.”
Soto’s Mets debut
With a chance to make a late splash in his New York Mets debut, Juan Soto came up empty.
After signing the biggest contract in baseball history last offseason, the slugger came to bat with two runners aboard and the Mets down by two in the ninth inning Thursday. But instead of delivering the huge hit New York was looking for, he whiffed on a full-count slider from hard-throwing closer Josh Hader that was way outside the strike zone to send the Mets to a second straight opening day loss in Houston’s 3-1 victory.
“He just got me in that situation,” Soto said.
Hader loaded the bases with nobody out, then fanned third-string catcher Hayden Senger in his first major league at-bat. Francisco Lindor’s sacrifice fly made it 3-1, and there were runners on first and third when Hader struck out Soto for his 200th career save.
“We all want to do something in a big spot,” Soto said. “We’re all trying to get the knock and try to bring the runs in and try to help the team either way.”
Soto singled and walked twice against the Astros after signing a record $765 million, 15-year contract as a free agent in December.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza was asked if he thought Soto felt extra pressure in the ninth inning because it was his first game with a new team.
“Yeah, of course, as a competitor he always wants to come through,” Mendoza said. “I thought he had some good at-bats today and even on that one he got it 3-0 and then 3-1 and that pitch that he got there (he) just missed it. Pretty good pitch. But he’ll come through.”
Rough start for Tito
Terry Francona’s first opening day as manager of the Cincinnati Reds started in a dentist’s chair.
About 12 hours later, Francona was experiencing baseball’s equivalent of a root canal.
The Reds were one out away from a successful debut for Francona, until the San Francisco Giants rallied for four runs in the ninth inning. Cincinnati got a run in the home half but ended up falling short 6-4.
Francona began the day with an emergency trip to the dentist for treatment of a broken veneer on a bottom tooth. As is his usual style, Francona tried to make light of the situation.
“Got it fixed and now I’m ready to go. I didn’t want to go through Opening Day looking like Jethro Bodine,” he said before the game.
That wasn’t the only painful experience for Francona. He then had to watch his team squander a lead in the ninth inning.
The Reds had a 3-2 lead going into the ninth when Francona decided to go with Ian Gibaut to close it out after Emilio Pagán pitched a scoreless seventh inning. Cincinnati’s closer situation remains in flux with Alexis Díaz on the injured list due to left hamstring inflammation.
With runners at the corners and two out, Patrick Bailey’s base hit to right-center tied it at 3-all before Wilmer Flores drove a hanging sweeper into the left-field stands to put the Giants on top.
“He left a breaking ball that caught too much of the plate. It was the middle of the order and he had a lot of deep counts,” said Francona about Gibaut.
The decision to go with Gibaut, who has 10 blown saves and only four career saves after Thursday, had Reds fans instantly second-guessing Francona.
“I don’t know if I’m ever going to go check to see who’s surprised,” said Francona about reactions to his decisions. “What I do is do what I think is right, answer questions and be confident enough to move on and not run to see how I’m being perceived. I’ll never do that.”
Notable homer
Austin Wells drove Freddy Peralta’s fastball into the first row of Yankee Stadium’s right-field short porch and landed in the history books: the first catcher in a century and a half of Major League Baseball to hit a leadoff home run on Opening Day.
“Obviously, not playing to break records,” he said, “but it’s pretty cool.”
Yogi Berra never did it. Neither did Bill Dickey, Elston Howard, Thurman Munson or Jorge Posada. Then again, until Thursday the Yankees had not had a catcher bat leadoff in any of their previous 19,451 games.
Wells’ home run, which would not have been out of any other big league ballpark, started the defending AL champions to a 4-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.
“There’s just presence to him,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
With the departure of Gleyber Torres to the Detroit Tigers, Boone needed a new leadoff hitter. He told Wells before his second spring training game, against Toronto on Feb. 28, he was being moved to the top of the order.
“I didn’t really take it seriously,” Wells said. “I thought maybe he’s like just messing with me, but then it just kind of continued to happen and had success, so here we are.”
