Bo Bichette picked up an RBI in his first at-bat with the New York Mets, cashing Francisco Lindor with a sacrifice fly in what turned out to be a disaster of a first inning for Paul Skenes and the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Facing last year’s Cy Young winner with runners at first and third with nobody out in the opening inning, Bichette hit a fly ball to right that was deep enough to score Lindor and give the Mets their first run of the season.
New York fell behind 2-0 after a home run from Brandon Lowe in the top half of the first. The Mets eventually chased Skenes after just two outs, highlighted by a bases-clearing triple from Brett Baty.
The Pirates’ ace finished his day having surrendered four hits with two walks and one strikeout, although one of those hits came on a ball centre fielder Oneil Cruz lost in the sun. Manager Don Kelly went to the bullpen after Skenes’ pitch-count climbed to 37.
Bichette came to the plate again in the second inning and struck out against right-hander Yohan Ramirez.
The 28-year-old third baseman hit .333 with one home run and nine RBI in 39 at-bats spread out over 16 games this spring. He signed a three-year, $126 million contract with the Mets in January that carries an opt-out after both the 2026 and 2027 seasons.
Bichette spent his first seven big-league seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays, leading the American League in hits twice and also making two All-Star teams as a Blue Jay.
He hit .311 with 18 home runs and 94 RBI in 139 games in 2025 with the Jays, missing the tail end of the regular season with a knee injury. He returned for World Series and collected eight hits as the Jays fell to the Dodgers in seven games.
