Mets/Nationals Benches Clear After Beanball To Face


Washington Nationals pitchers hit three New York Mets batters on Thursday, so when Francisco Lindor got beaned in the face in Friday's night 5th inning, tempers exploded onto the field as both dugouts and bullpens emptied.

Pete Alonso can be seen at the end of the clip; he, too, was hit by a pitch in the face/head area on Thursday. James McCann was also beaned twice. 

Mets manager Buck Showalter was the first one out of the dugout after Lindor was beaned, and was letting the expletives fly. It was only a couple of hours earlier, before the game, that he warned, “It’s dangerous. If their [catcher] sets up underneath the hitter and in, you better have command in there. I’ve done this with pitchers: If he doesn’t have command, you can’t let him pitch in there. Or you can’t let him make your club.”

For his part, Nationals pitcher Steve Cichek, who threw the pitch, apologized on field to Lindor. “I shook his hand and apologized and made sure he was OK. He said he was,” Cishek said. “I told him, ‘Sorry for what happened. Obviously your teammates have your back and I respect that.’ He was cool with it. Really nice guy.” 

Photo Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports