The Mets batted out of order Wednesday, a bizarre occurrence better suited for a beer softball league than the major leagues.
The incident happened in the top of the first inning due to a discrepancy in the lineup cards the Mets had in their dugout and the one they turned over to the umpires while facing the Reds in Cincinnati.
Wilmer Flores, who struck out, batted second when the official lineup card had him batting third. Then Asdrubal Cabrera, listed as the No. 2 hitter on the official card, hit a ground-rule double to left field.
Reds interim manager Jim Riggleman alerted the Mets' error to the home plate umpire, and New York was automatically called for its final out of the inning, which ended with Cabrera in scoring position. Jay Bruce, the Mets' No. 4 hitter on all lineup cards, was by rule attributed with the final out of the inning despite not doing anything wrong.
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Cabrera's double was erased officially.
The lineup card the Mets released publicly matched the one they were following in the first inning. They were forced to bat Cabrera in the No. 2 spot and Flores third for the rest of the game, which the Reds won 2-1 in 10 innings when Adam Duvall hit a solo homer off A.J. Ramos.
First-year manager Mickey Callaway took full responsibility for the mistake."It's frustrating," Callaway said. "It probably cost us the game. We had a chance to score in the first, and we didn't."
Callaway explained that there is a handwritten version of the lineup card and one printed from a computer.
"What was put in the computer was wrong," he said.
The Mets are 18-17 and have lost eight of their last nine games.