The Pittsburgh Pirates ace was tagged for five runs in just 0.2 innings pitched against the New York Mets on Thursday before being taken out.

Yohan Ramirez took over for Skenes, who finished his first outing allowing five earned runs on four hits while walking two batters and registering one strikeout on 37 pitches.

It is the first time in his career that Skenes has failed to get out of the first inning and the first time he’s been unable to register two strikeouts in a start. It is also just the second time in his career that he’s allowed five or more earned runs in a start.

Skenes was not the only problem for the Pirates in the first inning as outfielder Oneil Cruz misread a Brett Baty line drive to centre field as he went charging in for the ball, which went over his head and cleared the bases. The next pitch, Cruz lost a flyball in the sun.

The Pirates had scored two runs in the first inning after Brandon Lowe hit the first home run of the season off Freddy Peralta.