It has been an ugly series between the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals.
Three Mets hitters were hit by pitches on Tuesday night’s game, including this nasty play where Mets star first baseman Pete Alonso was hit in the head by Cardinals pitcher Kodi Whitley.
Pete Alonso was just hit by a pitch in the helmet, and he was hot about it. Appeared to say say some words to Cardinals pitcher Kodi Whitley after the HBP. The Mets' dugout sort-of emptied, but order was quickly restored. pic.twitter.com/T6WfDnSqBg
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) April 27, 2022
This moment saw the Mets dugout get ready to charge the mound, but nothing came of it and things quickly settled down.
Wednesday’s game brought us a retaliation by the Mets after another player was hit. This time, it created chaos in Busch Stadium. In the top of the eighth inning, Mets’ third baseman J.D Davis was hit by a pitch on a 3-2 count by Cardinals relief pitcher Genesis Cabrera.
J.D. Davis is hit in the foot with a pitch.
Ronnie: "How can you miss that badly on a 3-2 pitch?" pic.twitter.com/xHllYvQ2oY
— SNY (@SNYtv) April 27, 2022
It’s unclear if Cabrera was attempting to throw at Davis, but SNY announcer Ron Darling was certainly skeptical of his intentions.
“How can you miss so badly on a 3-2 pitch?” asked Darling.
Frustrations were clearly starting to grow for the Mets, and relief pitcher Yoan López threw a pitch up and in on Cardinals star third baseman Nolan Arenado, who took exception and charged the mound, resulting in both benches clearing and a brawl ensuing.
The benches have cleared after Yoan López threw up and in at Nolan Arenado. pic.twitter.com/VieEPQSKuu
— SNY (@SNYtv) April 27, 2022
Ths brawl resulted in Arenado and Cardinals bench coach Stubby Clapp being ejected. Clapp was shown clearly tossing Mets star first baseman Pete Alonso to the ground in the brawl.
Mets pitcher Yoan López threw up and in on the first pitch at Nolan Arenado, resulting in both benches clearing.
Arenado and Cardinals first-base coach Stubby Clapp were ejected.
🎥 @SNYtv pic.twitter.com/ncGy5X2ocw
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) April 27, 2022
This incident also provided a great GIF of the Cardinals bullpen running out onto the field to get involved in the melee.
#omw pic.twitter.com/DUoz2Z8Wbu
— cardinalsgifs (@cardinalsgifs) April 27, 2022
While it appears that Lopez was certainly trying to retaliate and throw at Arenado intentionally, this incident only proves Mets pitcher Chris Bassitt’s comments on the baseball being hard to control this season as a real problem that the league needs to figure out.
All these Mets and Cardinals fans are arguing with each other over batters getting hit by pitches when it’s actually MLB’s fault for ruining the baseballs is the epitome of the Rob Manfred Era
— Clem (@TheClemReport) April 27, 2022
The uptick in hit-by-pitches with slippery baseballs has turned into a Cardinals/Mets brawl
pic.twitter.com/UsiCQISQIs— Gary Sheffield Jr. (@GarysheffieldJr) April 27, 2022
Sometimes violence is the answer #Mets #Cardinals
— Jake Arrieta (@JArrieta34) April 27, 2022
This was certainly an ugly moment, but it may point a light at what seems like could be a major issue for MLB.
Pitchers who have had experience for years of pitching are saying that they are having trouble gripping the baseball, which is obviously very crucial for location on their pitches. It certainly seems like a big issue that the league will need to fix quickly for the safety of the players going forward.
[SNY]
