Long ball, short ball or ball four, the Mets’ new-look lineup aced the first of at least 162 tests it will face this season.
Whether it was Carson Benge and Francisco Alvarez going deep Thursday or Luis Robert Jr. milking an at-bat or using his speed to earn an infield hit, the Mets had an Opening Day to remember, torturing Paul Skenes and the Pirates in an 11-7 victory in front of a Citi Field sellout of 41,449.
Skenes, the reigning National League Cy Young award winner, didn’t even complete the first inning. Two defensive miscues by center fielder Oneil Cruz helped the Mets score five runs in the frame and remove Skenes from the scene after 37 pitches.
The Mets, who had lost their previous two openers, improved to 42-23 on Opening Day. The .646 winning percentage is the best among MLB teams in openers.
This was the perfect start for a rebuilt Mets lineup that shed Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil in the offseason.
In his Mets debut, Freddy Peralta lasted five innings and surrendered four earned runs on six hits with seven strikeouts. The right-hander was removed at 80 pitches.
Peralta’s first inning in a Mets uniform was one to forget: After Cruz singled leading off, Brandon Lowe hit a shot to right that nestled just over the fence for a two-run homer.
Skenes was removed after facing his ninth batter in the first inning: Alvarez, who got drilled by a pitch. Overall, the right-hander retired only two batters.
The rally began with Francisco Lindor’s leadoff walk and Juan Soto’s ensuing single. Bo Bichette hit a sacrifice fly and Jorge Polanco’s swinging bunt put runners on first and second. The key plate appearance of the inning followed as Robert Jr. saw 10 pitches in drawing a walk to load the bases.
loweBut the real damage wasn’t inflicted until Cruz misplayed Brett Baty’s fly to center into a bases-clearing triple that gave the Mets a 4-0 lead. Cruz started in on the ball and then watched it sail over his head. Cruz’s misery wasn’t finished. Marcus Semien hit a fly that Cruz lost in the sun, allowing Baty to score the inning’s fifth run.
Lowe’s second homer of the game pulled the Pirates within 5-3 in the third inning. Robert’s athleticism was on display later in the inning as his diving catch in right center robbed Marcell Ozuna of a hit to end the frame.
Robert extended the Mets’ lead to 6-3 with a two-out RBI single in the fourth, after Lindor and Soto had walked successively to begin the inning.
The Pirates recovered the run in the fifth on Henry Davis’ RBI double past the diving Bichette. Nick Gonzales’ leadoff single began the rally.
Soto delivered an RBI single in the fifth before Polanco drew a bases-loaded walk to extend the Mets’ lead to 8-4. Robert’s infield squib brought in the inning’s third run for the Mets.
Ryan O’Hearn homered against Tobias Myers in the sixth to slice the Mets’ lead to 9-5. The blast was the third surrendered by the Mets.
Benge blasted his first major league homer in the bottom of the inning, giving the Mets a 10-5 lead. Benge jumped on a first-pitch sweeper from Justin Lawrence and cleared the fence in right-center. The next batter, Alvarez, also homered.
Luis Garcia, in his Mets debut, struggled through the ninth, allowing two runs on three hits.
