Ryan Zimmerman had a night to remember on Tuesday, taking over the Expos/Nationals franchise record for career hits, a mark that he has a good chance of owning for a while.
But his night was capped off with a retaliatory plunking by the New York Mets.
Well, sort of. Maybe not.
The Nationals were up 25-1 (not a typo) in the bottom of the eighth inning when Zimmerman stepped to the plate against position player Jose Reyes. Reyes has done well enough in emergency relief, including throwing his share of off-speed pitched. Not surprisingly, a curveball got away from him and sailed towards Zimmerman in the box.
Hurtling along at 54 miles per hour, Zimmerman had ample time to get out of the way and chose not to. The ball plunked harmlessly into his back leg and he smirked back at the umpire, who awarded him first base. Before trotting down the line, he faked like he might charge the mound in anger:
Ryan Zimmerman faked like he was going to charge the mound after getting drilled by Jose Reyes -- pic.twitter.com/reEVwEB1se
— Baseball Bros (@BaseballBros)
August 1, 2018 You have to love the Mets' SNY broadcasters suggesting that Reyes would be OK with a brawl if it meant he could come out of the game. Reyes finished the night allowing six runs in one inning of work--which is still better than Mets starter Steven Matz, who allowed seven runs in .2 innings.
