Polar Bear plunk
Alonso’s blood boils after another HBP from Oviedo
After the Pirates hit the Mets with four pitches Saturday night, an early and familiar plunking on Sunday cleared the benches.
Johan Oviedo’s 96 mph fastball ran in and hit Pete Alonso on the left arm in the first inning, which ticked off the Mets first baseman. Alonso stared down Oviedo as he started to walk to first base before jawing at the young righthander in the Mets’ 7-3 win over the Pirates at Citi Field.
“Get the ball in the zone,” Alonso said of his message to Oviedo. “I mean, he throws hard, and it’s unsafe throwing that hard and not knowing where it’s going.”
That led to the benches and bullpens clearing, though no punches were thrown and the teams quickly retreated to their respective sides. Jeff McNeil did have to hold back Alonso, who was still heated.
It was Oviedo (then with the Cardinals) who plunked Alonso on the hand last season, which ultimately led to a stint on the injured list. That history “100 percent” factored into Alonso’s reaction on Sunday, he said.
“Him hitting me last year put me on the IL for a little bit,” Alonso said. “Then he hits me again in a noncompetitive pitch [out of] the zone. I’ve only faced him, I think, five times. I don’t know, it’s really strange.”
Pirates manager Derek Shelton said there was no intent on the pitch, which led to warnings for both benches.
“Alonso got hit [Saturday] and he got hit in the shoulder and you know, he took a little bit of harm to it — there was no harm intended,” Shelton said. “Early in the game trying to execute a pitch in and a ball gets up.”
The Mets have now been hit by a league-leading 102 pitches this season — three shy of the MLB record (since 1901) set by the Reds last season.
➤ Max Scherzer is officially a go for Monday night.
The Mets co-ace will return from the injured list to start against the Brewers in Milwaukee after dealing with left oblique irritation. The 38-year-old last started on Sept. 3, when exited early after reporting left-side fatigue.
“I feel back to normal,” said Scherzer, who threw 59 pitches in a rehab start Wednesday. “It’s just, got to worry about the capacity of what it can handle. That’s it.”
➤ The Mets will also be getting reinforcements to their bullpen, with Tylor Megill (right shoulder strain) expected to be activated off the IL on Monday and Drew Smith (right lat strain) likely by Tuesday.
➤ Entering Sunday, Dominic Smith had hit five home runs over his last 11 games with Triple-A Syracuse. Asked if there had been any internal discussion about calling up Smith while he’s hot, Buck Showalter mostly deferred to GM Billy Eppler.
“His name always comes up,” Showalter said. “I understand he’s been doing well lately. I like Dom, still like Dom. … He’s going to get the opportunity he wants in the near future. Could be here, who knows?”