Defensive lapses cost Pirates, who blow Paul Skenes' strong start as Marlins rally to win opener

Paul Skenes made history by becoming the fastest No. 1 overall draft pick to make an Opening Day start. Then the 22-year-old Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander made a case for why he’s the NL Cy Young favorite.

The 2023 No. 1 overall pick of the MLB Draft, Skenes outdueled 2022 Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara in a season-opening matchup of fantastic flamethrowers whose fastballs flirted with triple digits.

Skenes recorded seven strikeouts and allowed two runs on three hits and two walks in 5 1/3 innings, but defensive lapses proved costly for the Pirates as they blew a three-run lead in the late 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 win over the Pirates on Thursday afternoon at loanDepot park.

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.

“It’s kind of weird: First full spring training for him, first Opening Day,” Shelton said on SportsNet Pittsburgh’s pregame show. “It seems like he’s accomplished a lot in a short amount of time. I’m just happy that he’s on the mound today.”

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 an RBI in three consecutive season openers since Willie Stargell did so in five straight from 1974-78.

That prompted the Marlins to pull Alcantara after allowing two runs on two hits and four walks with seven strikeouts on 91 pitches in 4 2/3 innings. Where Alcantara labored through a 28-pitch fifth, Skenes needed only six. 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 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 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 a game-tying single to center to drive in Lopez.

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. 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.

The Pirates intentionally walked Xavier Edwards to get to Stowers, who delivered the winning hit.