Plunking overshadows Scherzer’s return
Pitcher picks up 7-3 victory in return to DC as Mets beat Nationals
WASHINGTON — Mets star Francisco Lindor was face-down in the dirt near home plate, his helmet no longer atop his bluedyed curly hair, his jaw smarting after being plunked — the fourth time a pitch struck a New York player in a span of 1 ½ games against the Washington Nationals.
He heard, then saw, teammates and coaches storming out of the dugout Friday night. Manager Buck Showalter was cursing and shouting and leading the way.
“I got hit. I was on the ground. I hear scuffles. I look up. My whole entire team is out there. Whole entire coaching staff is out there,” Lindor said. “I could see the bullpen sprinting in. That says a lot.”
That benches-clearing interruption, after reliever Steve Cishek’s pitch connected with Lindor’s face, overshadowed Max Scherzer’s return to Nationals Park even as the three-time Cy Young Award winner pitched New York to a 7-3 victory over Washington.
On an evening that began with a 14-minute delay because the stadium lights weren’t working and sputtered to an end with a 38-minute rain delay in the top of the ninth, Scherzer (1-0) allowed three runs and three hits in six innings in his debut for the Mets.
The right-hander was greeted by a standing ovation during his warmup tosses, then walked one, struck out six and gave up a two-run homer to former teammate Josh Bell that made it 3-all in the fourth. Scherzer — signed by New York to a $130 million, three-year deal — knew that pitch was gone immediately, spinning around on the mound as soon as Bell made contact.
Back in the second inning, one of Scherzer’s pitches hit Bell. That followed three occasions during New York’s 5-1 win Thursday when a Mets batter was struck — James McCann was plunked twice, and Pete Alonso left with a bloody lip in the ninth.
“I think they understood our frustration,” Showalter said about the umpires, who ejected Cishek and Nationals third-base coach Gary DiSarcina on Friday.
“I don’t really want to hear about ‘intent,’ ” Showalter said, his arms crossed. “If you’re throwing up in there, those things can happen. Max didn’t have any trouble
controlling the ball tonight.”
Lindor’s X-ray came back negative and he cleared a concussion test. He had a red scratch near his chin and said he was cut inside his mouth and might have a cracked tooth. He expected to play Saturday night.
Cishek called the episode “totally unintentional” and apologized to Lindor when they ran into each other in the bowels of the stadium.
He had just replaced starter
Josiah Gray (0-1) — who arrived in Washington in the swap that sent Scherzer to the Los Angeles Dodgers at last July’s trade deadline — after the Mets had taken a 4-3 lead.
New York’s highlights at the plate included Jeff McNeil homering on his 30th birthday — he also went deep on his 29th — Starling Marte’s three RBIs and designated hitter Robinson Canó’s two-run single.
Gray allowed four runs and eight hits in four-plus innings.