Benches clear over inside pitches during Mets' loss to Cardinals
Mets' Pete Alonso is taken to the ground by St. Louis Cardinals first base coach Stubby Clapp (82) and Alonso's jersey is grabbed by Cardinals relief pitcher Genesis Cabrera, left, as benches clear during a scuffle in the eighth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, April 27, 2022, in St. Louis. Clapp was ejected from the game. Credit: AP
ST. LOUIS — In a 10-5 loss to the Cardinals on Wednesday, the Mets got mad — and it had nothing to do with the score.
The teams engaged in a benches-clearing shoving match during the bottom of the eighth inning after Mets reliever Yoan Lopez threw up and in to Cardinals star Nolan Arenado, who responded by shouting and then taking steps toward the mound — the climax of frustrations that had built over the course of the series and, for the Mets, over the course of weeks as they have been hit by a majors-leading 19 pitches in 20 games.
“Getting domed up isn’t fun. It’s obviously not safe. It’s dangerous,” said Pete Alonso, who Tuesday night was hit in the head by a pitch for the second time this month. “There’s consequences, whether it’s on purpose or not. We’re going to stand up for ourselves. I’m totally for standing up. I’m not just for standing up for myself, I’m totally for standing up for teammates.”
And then he continued: “But what happened today didn’t make sense. The ball [to Arenado] wasn’t even close. It’s something that started for no reason. It wasn’t even close. I know it’s a five-run ballgame, but we’re trying to come back. The whole thing doesn’t even make sense.”
As the dugouts emptied, Arenado tossed catcher Tomas Nido aside while trying to get to Lopez. A scrum formed and pushing ensued. No punches appeared to be thrown.
Among the chief participants for the Mets (14-6) was Alonso. Cardinals first-base coach Stubby Clapp and reliever Genesis Cabrera — who the previous half-inning hit J.D. Davis in the left foot with a pitch, causing him to leave the game — tackled Alonso.
Manager Buck Showalter said he was comfortable with how his club handled the situation.
“The umpires felt that way, too, with their two ejections,” he said, referring to Arenado and Clapp being the only people to get tossed. “I’ll let [the Cardinals] handle their players. I know our player got hit in the head and went to first base.”
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said: “When you come up top like that and jeopardize someone’s career and life, yeah, I take exception to that. I don’t think anyone in the big leagues appreciates getting thrown up top. Nolan has every right to react the way he did and go after him.”
Showalter and Lopez said Lopez’s pitch was not intentionally near Arenado’s head. Crew chief Mark Wegner, who umpired third base, agreed.
Surprised by Arenado’s reaction, Lopez was OK with it, too.
“He was uncomfortable from that pitch and he got upset,” he said through an interpreter. “From that point, I was happy with that, because I knew that I got him out of his comfort zone. And they took him out of the game because of it.”
Alonso, who said Arenado is “a really, really good dude” who he likes a lot, was angry that he was tackled from behind instead of from the front.
“If you want to hold me back, if you want to restrain me, go at me like a man,” Alonso said, adding that he understood generally why the Cardinals would want to subdue him. “I’m a big, strong guy. They don’t know my temper. They don’t know what I can do. If I wanted to put someone in the hospital, I easily could. But I was just out there trying to protect my guys.”
The shenanigans came after Showalter said Wednesday morning that he did not want his pitchers to retaliate by plunking opposing batters, in part playing the role of peacekeeper while accepting and sharing in the emotions stemming from his players getting plunked so frequently.
“There's a lot of emotion flying around. Stop, think this through,” he said. “There's a lot of ways to show your toughness other than reciprocating hitting somebody else in the head. Then all of a sudden somebody's career is over and somebody's laying there with blood coming out of their ears. How do you really feel? Was it worth it? No, it was kind of stupid.”
The game was mostly a mess for the Mets. The pitching was bad, the hitting was barely better, and they made multiple outs on the bases in the sixth inning.
Carlos Carrasco gave up eight runs (seven earned) in 3 2/3 innings. The Mets reached Steven Matz for four runs in four innings but managed little against the St. Louis bullpen.
The Mets and Cardinals meet again May 16-19 at Citi Field. Alonso said he doesn’t expect this tension to continue then.
“We just want to beat them, plain and simple,” he said. “We want to win every single game we can. I don’t think there is any lingering issues.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
