AROUND THE HORN
Cardinals, Mets:
The Mets’ hit-by-pitch frustrations boiled over Wednesday when reliever Yoan López threw a pitch near Nolan Arenado’s head, sparking a benches-clearing brawl that led to Arenado’s ejection in the Cardinals’ 10-5 victory in St. Louis. Mets hitter J.D. Davis left in the top of the eighth after being hit in the left foot by a pitch from Génesis Cabrera, the major league-leading 19th hit-bypitch for the Mets this season — including three Tuesday night against the Cards. The Mets appeared to retaliate a half-inning later against Arenado, who reached four times and drove in three runs. López zipped a 94 mph fastball near his head, and Arenado began yelling for López to “do it again.” The benches and bullpens cleared, and the teams pushed and shoved near home plate. “I went a little bit inside, that’s part of the game,” López said via an interpreter. “That one kind of got away from me.” First-year Cards manager Oliver Marmol said Arenado’s reaction was justified. “When you come up top like that and jeopardize someone’s career and life, yeah, I take exception to that,” Marmol said. “And I don’t think anyone in the big leagues appreciates getting thrown up top.” Cards 1B coach Stubby Clapp seemed to tackle Mets star Pete Alonso near the center of the melee. Cards veteran Adam Wainwright later walked over to Alonso to ask if he was all right. Clapp was ejected along with Arenado, but López remained in the game. Crew Chief Mark Wegner told a pool reporter that Arenado was ejected for charging the mound and Clapp was ejected for “his over aggressive actions” during the fracas. Mets manager Buck Showalter denied after the game that his team felt the need to send a message about the plunkings and said López’s pitch wasn’t intentional. Showalter also said X-rays on Davis’ foot were negative, but he’ll need further evaluation . ... OF Jon Jay, who played parts of 12 seasons and won a World Series ring with the Cards in 2011, announced his retirement. Jay, 37, who hasn’t played since he was released by the Angels in March 2021, had a career .283 batting average with 37 HRs, 341 RBIs and 55 stolen bases.
White Sox: Andrew Vaughn hit a tiebreaking three-run HR in the seventh, and the White Sox stopped an eight-game slide with a 7-3 victory over the visiting Royals. The winning rally for the White Sox started when Danny Mendick and Tim Anderson hit consecutive two-out singles off Collin Snider (2-1). Scott Barlow then came in, and Vaughn drove his first pitch into the home bullpen in left for his fourth HR. The White Sox added another run in the eighth when Leury García scampered home on Reese McGuire’s double-play grounder. Jake Burger hit a solo HR as the White Sox got their first win since April 16. Burger finished with three hits, and Vaughn had four RBIs. Dylan Cease struck out nine in six innings, helping the White Sox stop their longest losing streak since June 2018. The right-hander allowed two runs and three hits. Reliever Bennett Sousa (1-0) got his first major league win.
Red Sox: Manager Alex Cora rejoined the Red Sox
in Toronto after missing the last six games because of COVID-19. The Red Sox went 1-5 under bench coach Will Venable after Cora tested positive before last Thursday’s home loss to the Blue Jays. Cora, 46, is vaccinated and boosted.