Benches and bullpens clear after Francisco Lindor drilled by Steve Cishek fastball
Benches and bullpens cleared in the fifth inning of the Mets’ 7-3 win over the Nationals Friday night after Steve Cishek threw a fastball up and in at Francisco Lindor that appeared to hit him near his jaw and the C-flap of his helmet. Lindor fell to the ground as Showalter was the first man out of the dugout, visibly livid as he barked his disapproval at the Nationals.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Frustrations spilled onto the field in game two of 162, with most of those emotions emanating from Buck Showalter.
Benches and bullpens cleared in the fifth inning of the Mets’ 7-3 win over the Nationals Friday night after Steve Cishek threw a fastball up and in at Francisco Lindor that appeared to hit him near his jaw and the C-flap of his helmet. It was the fourth time a Mets hitter was hit in two days.
“Throwing up and in there, those things can’t happen,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said.
Lindor fell to the ground as Showalter was the first man out of the dugout, visibly livid as he barked his disapproval at the Nationals. With Lindor still down, a skirmish formed off the third-base line, with Nationals manager Dave Martinez and several other Mets players right in the center of it.
The Mets shortstop soon got up on his feet and walked toward the skirmish, but was shaken up by the hit by pitch. Moments later, Lindor left the field with a trainer and Cishek was ejected, apparently without a warning. Cishek voiced his displeasure to the umpires before walking off the field. Cishek later apologized to Lindor for hitting him while the shortstop was undergoing X-rays.
“I’m proud of being a New York Met,” Lindor said. “I got hit. I was on the ground. I heard scuffles, I look up, my whole entire team is out there. The whole entire coaching staff is out there. … That shows unity. I’m happy that when I looked up, my boys were out there.”
The Mets later announced that Lindor’s X-rays on his jaw came back negative, and the shortstop also passed concussion protocols. Lindor said he was grateful for that C-flap on his helmet protecting his jaw, otherwise the injury would’ve been worse.
“I think one of my tooth might be cracked, but not bad,” Lindor said. “I can still smile.”
Showalter was furious because that was the fourth time a Nationals pitcher drilled a Mets hitter in this series alone. James McCann was hit by a pitch twice on Thursday, and Pete Alonso was plunked on his shoulder/C-flap of his helmet that resulted in a bloody lip. Showalter said he thinks the umpires made the right call ejecting Cishek. A pool report with crew chief Mark Carlson indicated Cishek was thrown out of the game for continuing to escalate the situation after the hit by pitch.
“It’s dangerous,” Showalter said pregame Friday on the topic of his hitters getting drilled. “If he (the pitcher) doesn’t have command, you can’t let him pitch in there, or you can’t let him make your club.”
Max Scherzer, making his Mets debut and facing his former team, responded to Lindor’s hit by pitch by retiring the side in the bottom of the fifth.
“Nobody is trying to drill anybody,” Scherzer said. “Obviously, the ball got away from Cishek there. It’s a cold night. The ball can slip on you. I really feel like that’s what happened tonight. So yeah, everybody’s hot in that moment. But my job is to go out there and throw strikes. I can’t get worked up into that.”
The story of Scherzer’s quality start on Friday was overshadowed by the drama on the field. The veteran right-hander returned to Washington and faced the Nationals for the first time since 2010. He received a standing ovation from the home crowd, for which he won a World Series in 2019. The Nationals on Thursday put together a tribute video for Scherzer that his former organization of six-plus years played during Opening Day introductions.
“It’s almost good that this was the first one,” Scherzer said of facing the Nationals. “Just get it out of the way and let’s just go on and keep marching forward. A lot of great memories here, but the team’s different. It’s not the same team I played with.”
Scherzer allowed three earned runs on three hits and recorded six strikeouts across six innings on Friday night. His blemish came on a two-run home run to Josh Bell that tied the game at 3-3 in the fourth inning. But Scherzer recovered quickly, retiring eight of his next nine batters after Bell’s dinger.
Also forgotten by the time the Mets won their second-straight game against the Nationals was Jeff McNeil’s celebratory feat. McNeil, who turned 30 on Friday, homered on his birthday for the second-consecutive year. He is the 16th Mets player in franchise history to homer on his birthday. McNeil joined Mike Piazza and Jim Hickman as the only Mets players to have homered twice on their birthday in their career.
“Put a good swing on that one, back-to-back years,” McNeil said. “Pretty exciting to play a good game on your birthday.”
McNeil said a situation like Friday night’s benches-clearing incident can absolutely bring the Mets closer together. “Everybody on this team has got each other’s back. You saw it today. I think this is a good group of guys. Close knit. I’m happy to be a part of this team.”
Friday night’s game also featured a handful of stoppages. Nationals Park had a lighting issue pregame, causing a 14-minute delay to first pitch. Then the game was paused while benches and bullpens cleared following Lindor’s hit by pitch. The game was again delayed after Cishek was ejected and Doolittle took time to warm up. Finally, a rain delay took place in the top of the ninth inning with no outs and Pete Alonso on second base.
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