WASHINGTON, D.C. – Benches and bullpens cleared in the fifth inning of the Mets-Nationals game 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.
Lindor fell to the ground as Mets manager Buck 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 before walking off the field.
Luis Guillorme replaced Lindor at first base. Nationals reliever Sean Doolittle took over for Cishek.
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.
“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.
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