Remember back this spring when Buck Showalter was griping about how many times the Mets were hit by pitches early in the season?
Well, tensions boiled over on Sunday, more than five months later, as the Mets’ franchise record-extending 102nd hit batter was Pete Alonso, who was plunked on the hand in the first inning of the Mets-Pirates season finale – the fifth batter plunked by Bucs pitching this weekend:
The Mets were unhappy after being hit four times on Saturday, all in the final five innings of their and this one came on an 0-1 pitch, two after Jeff McNeil’s RBI single made it 1-0 Mets. Both benches and bullpens cleared as Alonso stared down Pirates starter Johan Oviedo, and both benches were warned.
After the four plunkings last night, the Mets became the first team since 1899 to have six different batters hit by 10 or more pitches in a season, led by Mark Canha’s 21. Those six now account for 83 of the 102 total, but 16 different Mets have been hit by a pitch this year.
Alonso is fourth on that list with 12, and the player ahead of him, Starling Marte, is on the IL with a fractured finger as a result of his 13th and more recent plunking.
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