UNDATED (AP) — The New York Mets’ hit-by-pitch frustrations boiled over when reliever Yoan López threw a pitch near Nolan Arenado’s head, sparking a benches-clearing brawl that led to Arenado’s ejection in the St. Louis Cardinals’ 10-5 victory.
Arenado reached four times and drove in three runs before the incident in the eighth inning.
Mets hitter J.D. Davis left in the top of the eighth after being hit in the left foot by a pitch from Génesis Cabrera, the major league-leading 19th hit-by-pitch for the Mets this season. Lopez zipped a 94 mph fastball near Arenado’s head, and Arenado began yelling for Lopez to “do it again,” sparking the melee.
The New York Mets are upset after several of their hitters have been hit by pitches over the first few weeks of the season. Mets pitcher Chris Bassitt says bad baseballs are to blame. The actual problem is probably multifaceted, ranging from cold weather to bad luck.
The Mets have been hit 20 times this season in 19 games, which leads the league by a wide margin.
MLB-wide hit-by-pitch rates were actually down slightly heading into Wednesday’s games.
Elsewhere around the majors:
— Taylor Ward hit a grand slam and finished a single shy of the cycle and the surging Los Angeles Angels rolled to a 9-5 victory over the Cleveland Guardians for their fourth consecutive win. Shohei Ohtani showed off his two-way prowess, winning his second straight start while also delivering three hits and driving in a run.
— The Oakland Athletics ended the Giants’ five-game winning streak with a 1-0 victory over San Francisco. Paul Blackburn and five relievers combined on a three-hitter, making Chad Pinder’s leadoff homer stand up for the A’s. Blackburn allowed three hits in five innings, lowering his ERA to 1.35.
— Giancarlo Stanton hit his 350th career homer and lifted a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the sixth inning, sending the New York Yankees over the Baltimore Orioles 5-2. Joey Gallo also homered for the second straight night. Stanton is the seventh fastest player to 350 homers, getting there in 1,341 games.
— The Boston Red Sox celebrated the return of manager Alex Cora by beating the Toronto Blue Jays 7-1. Cora missed the past six games because of COVID-19, and Boston lost five of them. Xander Bogaerts went 4 for 4 with four singles and a walk for the Red Sox, while Michael Wacha earned his second straight win.
— The Tampa Bay Rays beat Seattle 3-2, ending the Mariners’ four-game winning streak. Drew Rasmussen struck out nine in six shutout innings for the Rays, while Kevin Kiermaier hit a two-run home run.
— Kyle Tucker hit a three-run double in the fifth inning and Cristian Javier won his first start of the season as the Houston Astros held off the Texas Rangers 4-3. Javier allowed two runs in five innings, giving up four hits and two walks while striking out four.
— Joe Ryan threw seven innings of one-hit ball and Max Kepler stayed hot with a pair of home runs as the streaking Minnesota Twins defeated the Detroit Tigers 5-0. Ryan Jeffers homered, doubled and drove in three runs for the Twins, who won their sixth game in a row. Ryan was dominant from the start, walking just one batter and striking out nine.
— The Philadelphia Phillies won their third straight over the Colorado Rockies, 7-3. Bryce Harper had a triple among his three hits, while Odubel Herrera homered and drove in two runs, and Didi Gregorius added a double, single and two RBIs for Philadelphia.
— Willson Contreras gave Chicago the lead with a run-scoring double in the 10th inning and Patrick Wisdom followed with a two-run homer, as the Cubs beat the Atlanta Braves 6-3. The Cubs recovered after right-hander Mychal Givens blew a 3-1 lead in the eighth. David Robertson relieved Givens and got the win.
— Aaron Ashby combined with four relievers on a one-hitter, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-1. Neither team got a hit until the sixth inning, but Tyrone Taylor singled home the go-ahead run in the seventh inning for the Brewers.
— The Miami Marlins moved above .500 for the first time this season, beating the slumping Washington Nationals 2-1. Pablo López lowered his majors-best ERA to 0.39 by throwing six shutout innings. He’s now 3-0, having allowed just one run in four starts. The Marlins have won four games in a row, while the Nationals have lost seven straight.
— Jurickson Profar hit a three-run homer, MacKenzie Gore struck out 10 over five innings and the San Diego Padres beat the Cincinnati Reds 8-5. San Diego will go for its second sweep of the season Thursday of the hard-luck Reds. Cincinnati has lost 12 of 13 amid a rash of injuries and slumps, and their 3-15 record is the worst in the majors.
— Arizona scored two runs after Max Muncy’s throwing error in the eighth inning to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-1. Zac Gallen pitched six scoreless innings for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
— Andrew Vaughn hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the seventh inning, and the Chicago White Sox stopped an eight-game slide with a 7-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals. The winning rally for the White Sox started when Danny Mendick and Tim Anderson hit consecutive two-out singles off Collin Snider. Scott Barlow then came in, and Vaughn drove his first pitch into the home bullpen in left.
