ST. LOUIS — While the Mets had just sealed a record sixth series win to start the season, there was still an air of frustration and anger following Tuesday’s victory over the Cardinals.
The irritation is justified.
Through 19 games, Mets batters have been hit an MLB-high 18 times. And once again, the Mets saw Pete Alonso escape major injury as he was hit in the head by a pitch for the second time this season.
“You care about your players and getting into right and wrong and intent and what have you,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said. “You reach a point where it’s about safety of your players. We’re lucky. You talk about a pitch that broke his helmet. It’s not good. I’m not happy.”
On Opening Day, Alonso received a fat lip after a pitch from the Nationals’ Nate Thompson careened off his helmet extension in the top of the eighth inning. One day later, Francisco Lindor suffered a cracked tooth but avoided any further damage when he was hit by Steve Cishek as the benches cleared.
Dominic Smith and Starling Marte were also hit by pitches during Tuesday’s win.
“It’s really uncomfortable at the end of the day,” Marte said. “It’s one of those things where ,whether it’s intentional or not, it has to stop. We’re tired of it and we’re going to do something about it if it continues to happen. It is uncomfortable every single time you go out there and you’re getting hit.”
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