The debut of Apple’s new Friday Night Baseball was not without technological incident, as the game was delayed by lighting issues, and now it is not without incident-incident, as the Mets and Nationals benches just cleared.
A pitch went way up and in on Francisco Lindor as he squared to bunt, and the teams were off to the races:
Lindor just got drilled and now the benches have clearedpic.twitter.com/CKlpiWB9v8
— Dillard Barnhart (@BarnHasSpoken2) April 9, 2022
Thankfully, Lindor seemed to avoid the worst of it, though he ultimately departed the game for a pinch runner. Hopefully he’ll be OK after further testing. And, yes, that was old friend Steve Cishek throwing up and in – we are familiar with his periodic wildness, though the Mets obviously felt this was more than that.
If you’re wondering about context on that point, the Mets seem to have been primed to get after it because they were hit three times by the Nationals last night in the season opener.
Lindor has come out of the game. (The c-flap on his helmet spared him from serious damage.) It was the 4th time a Met has been hit by the Nats with a pitch in 14 innings.
After huddling, the umpires have tossed Steve Cishek apparently without a prior warning.
— James Wagner (@ByJamesWagner) April 9, 2022
Stay tuned, because this might get hotter before it all settles.
UPDATE: Ope, well, you know what they say. The best revenge is pitching well:
In case you were wondering how Max Scherzer would respond, he had a quick 1-2-3 inning.
— Britt Ghiroli (@Britt_Ghiroli) April 9, 2022
UPDATE 2: Looks like things turned out OK for Lindor:
X-rays on Francisco Lindor's jaw were negative and he passed concussion testing after being hit on the C-flap with an 88-mph pitch earlier tonight.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) April 9, 2022