The Mets couldn't get any offense going against former teammate Chris Bassitt on Friday night, and with Bassitt finally out of the game, New York's eighth inning was shut down by a pitch clock violation on Brandon Nimmo.
With two outs in the fame and Nimmo in the box as the tying run, the Mets outfielder was ruled out on a 2-2 count for not following MLB's new rule of being "alert" in the batter's box by the time there are eight seconds left on the new pitch clock. Nimmo had both feet in the box, but was looking down as he got himself set when the clock reached eight seconds, resulting in an automatic strike call, which with two strikes and two outs meant the end of the inning.
"Seems ticky-tack," Nimmo said. "I was in the box at eight seconds. Usually we get a little more time on foul balls, maybe that's been wrong. He was on the rubber at nine seconds, and I was in the box at eight seconds, but because I wasn't looking at the pitcher?
"Just seems ticky-tack. You're slowing down the game more by coming out and calling that, rather than just letting the pitch go. It was a foul ball, you're getting a new ball in play, and as soon as he got a new ball on the mound, the clock started. We were going along just fine."
Instead, the score remained 1-0, and would through the ninth as the Mets dropped their series opener against Toronto, spoiling a strong outing from Justin Verlander.
"It sucks when a situation in the game is dictated by something that wasn't even in the game a year ago, but it is what is," Nimmo said. "Gotta try and be more court aware on the clock. It sucks. It also sucks because I was in the box, but nothing we can do about it now."
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