Well, it happened.
After several hit batsmen and close pitches, the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals finally had enough.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, after Mets third baseman J.D. Davis was drilled in the ankle and forced to exit the game, Yoan Lopez threw hard and inside at Nolan Arenado, who took exception to the pitch and began chirping at Lopez, causing the benches to clear.
Arenado and Cardinals first base coach Stubby Clapp were subsequently ejected.
Following the game, Mets manager Buck Showalter was asked about the melee and the way Arenado handled the situation.
He had this to say.
Buck Showalter said he was comfortable with how the Mets handled themselves today.
“Our player got hit in the head (last night) and went to first base,” he said.
— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) April 27, 2022
Buck Has Spoken
This is a perfect response by Showalter.
He just kept it simple here and said his piece without losing his temper.
However, he’s wrong.
When Alonso was hit in the head on Tuesday night by Kodi Whitley, he immediately had words with the Cards’ reliever.
The Mets lead all of Major League Baseball in hit batsmen, so they’re understandably frustrated and have every right to be.
Showalter is at least doing his best to keep his response simple in his postgame interview.
But when Alonso was hit, the pitch was a two-strike changeup.
Though Arenado wasn’t hit, the pitch was a fastball up near the head.
So while Showalter is doing a good job of keeping his cool, he’s missing the fact that Alonso didn’t simply just get down to first base without saying a word.
Again, the Mets have every right to be frustrated, and with Davis injured, a response was coming.
But when the pitch to Arenado was intentionally thrown at his head, you can understand his frustration too.
NEXT: Mets Veteran Pleads For MLB To Fix A Dangerous Problem
