00:00How are we doing, Mets fans? It's Tyler Ward, a.k.a. Warding to many of you here, and we're
00:04reporting live from Citi Field Mets opening day, as the Mets were able to just take down the Pittsburgh Pirates
00:09by a final whopping score of 11-7.
00:13And here for the New York Post, we're going to give you guys a complete breakdown and recap from what
00:17was nothing short of an amazing victory, and it was headlined by the offense.
00:20The Mets came to the plate a lot today, recording 11 hits to the Pirates' 10, but that one hit
00:26wasn't just the difference maker, it had everything to do with how this ballgame began.
00:30Freddie Peralta gives up a bomb early that we saw to Brandon Lowe on a middle-middle curveball that just
00:35got out after Carson Menn tries to make a wall climb, but to no avail.
00:39Half inning later, Paul Skeens gets absolutely worked, everyone's getting to the plate, Brett Beatty gets up, and he somehow,
00:47someway clears the bases with his first triple of the season, driving in three runs,
00:52all thanks to what we saw there in what was terrible defense by O'Neal Cruz in center.
00:57Completely played shallow on that ball, and just like that, the Mets down 2-0, are up 4-2, still
01:02in the first, against one of the best pitchers in baseball, and the flamethrower, Paul Skeens.
01:07Afterwards, Marcus Simeon with a bloopy that just gets out of the infield, but it is in fact, not in
01:12fact an out, but actually an RBI.
01:16Why does that happen? Because Marcus Simeon, thankfully for him, puts that ball in play, and they simply can't see
01:22it.
01:22The Suns blinding the Pirates early, I don't know if they knew the season actually started today, it didn't look
01:27that way with the way that this ballgame began, and the Mets got off early and often.
01:31And Paul Skeens, working that count north of 40 pitches, he's out of the ballgame, and not even one full
01:38inning.
01:38The worst start of Paul Skeens' career, one of the worst starts that you could ever fathom the idea of
01:43seeing from someone like him.
01:44I did not have on my bingo card today to see someone like Paul Skeens and his caliber come out
01:50here and do anything sure to dominate.
01:51I thought this would be a pitcher's duel. Instead, it was a hit spree for both teams alike.
01:56The Pirates obviously had offense some early and often. Brandon Lowe had a pair of home runs in today's matchup.
02:01We also saw them pounce late in this game, but it was too little too late against the Mets offense
02:06that had so much working.
02:08And a big part of that was Luis Robert, because what did Robert do in that first inning?
02:12He helped work what was a tremendous 10-pitch at-bat after starting the count 1-2, grinding it out,
02:19hacking away to work his walk.
02:21Robert had himself multiple hits, multiple RBIs today, and looked tremendous in center field.
02:28If the Mets get more of that from Luis Robert, they're going to be really happy.
02:31Well, what the turnout's going to be for the 1-62.
02:33Then you get into the youngsters, Carson Benj. What has Benj do today?
02:38Well, he's overmatched against Paul Skeens initially. Not shocked to see that, right?
02:41What do we see? Carson Benj strikes at his first couple at-bats, gets on with a walk for his
02:46first time on base as a major league hitter,
02:48and then, bam, lay in the ballgame, a tie, it's far, and it is gone.
02:52Carson Benj smacks his first home run of his major league career,
02:55and the common consensus from the start of the ballgame with his ovation to that home run
03:00was that the Mets crowd, of course, sold out at Citi Field, was its loudest solely for Carson Benj.
03:07Regardless of the fact that the Mets put up 11 runs today, it was Carson Benj reigning supreme as the
03:12early fan favorite.
03:13And when he went out and did his little curtain call of celebration after heading his first career bomb,
03:18you could tell the excitement, the enthusiasm, and the jolt that was clearly put into this Mets lineup thanks to
03:25him.
03:26After that home run, Francisco Alvarez hits a bomb.
03:29Second deck, it's out of here to left.
03:31That increased the Mets' lead, and that's how they got their 11th run in this ballgame.
03:35Jorge Polanco looked very good today that we saw.
03:38Marcus Simeon did his thing top to bottom.
03:40Francisco Lindor had three runs scored in this one.
03:43Juan Soto had an opposite field RBI single.
03:46Everyone and their mother was producing for the Mets in this 1-9 lineup.
03:51And while Freddy Peralta wasn't his sharpest today, as he did allow four earned runs,
03:55we will say this.
03:56Even though it wasn't his sharpest, there were some things that he looked really good with today.
04:00And after he had that early adversity in the first inning,
04:03he went and then went on to strike out the next three batters.
04:05And he had two of those three strikeouts with a curveball.
04:08One was with a fastball.
04:09He had a couple 1-2-3 innings before his day was done.
04:11And Peralta has a lot to work on and build from today,
04:14but we know that's inevitably going to happen.
04:16It's a walk year for him.
04:17It's just as important for Peralta to have a big 2026,
04:20not only for the Mets, as it is for him,
04:21as someone who's looking for that big payday,
04:23regardless as to if the Mets are going to extend him or not.
04:26So Tobias Myers gave up a home run that we saw to Ryan O'Hearn.
04:29It just got out of the park at 358 feet, nothing to be overly concerned by.
04:34So outside of that, Garcia got rocked laying the game against the Pirates.
04:37So even though the Mets didn't have their strongest pitching today,
04:40it simply didn't matter.
04:40All in all, you couldn't have asked for a more amazing opening day victory for them.
04:45Everyone's rejuvenated.
04:46As a fan myself, I'm amped up.
04:48This was easily the most entertaining game I feel like I've watched
04:50and have attended at Citi Field in the calendar year
04:53because that's how bad the 2025 season felt, especially from June onward.
04:56But I would love to hear your thoughts, everybody, in the comments down below,
04:59your initial reactions and thoughts.
05:01The Mets taking down the Pittsburgh Pirates again by a final score of an 11-7.
05:05And make sure that you guys are chiming in for all things Mets
05:08and all things New York sports content here on the New York Post Sports YouTube channel.
05:12Tyler Ward signing out.
05:14Peace out, everybody.
05:14Peace out, everybody.
05:14Peace out, everybody.
05:15Peace out, everybody.
05:16Peace out, everybody.
05:16Peace out, everybody.
05:16Peace out, everybody.
05:17Peace out, everybody.
05:17Peace out, everybody.
05:18You
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