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WASHINGTON — On a night that was supposed to be about Mad Max, the Mets were just plain mad.
Francisco Lindor became the fourth Mets batter in 14 innings to leave an at-bat bruised, which set off a benches-clearing skirmish in what became a 7-3 win over the Nationals Friday night in Max Scherzer’s Mets debut.
A game that had everything — including a 14-minute delay at the start because the lights did not work, a brouhaha and a 38-minute ninth-inning rain delay — left the Mets both angry and unblemished through two contests.
Before the altercation, Starling Marte lined a double that drove in Brandon Nimmo, which proved to be the game winner. Marte, who went 2-for-5 with three RBIs, also provided insurance after the altercation, when he stroked a two-run single in the sixth that turned the Mets’ anger into celebration.
What had been building for a game and a half exploded in the fifth inning. Lindor squared to bunt, but the second pitch thrown by lefty reliever Steve Cishek came at his head. It was unclear exactly where the ball hit, but Lindor hit the ground and the Mets — led by manager Buck Showalter — began pouring onto the field while pointing at Cishek.
Both sides pushed and shoved and both bullpens streamed onto the field, appearing to exchange far more curses than punches.
Lindor was on the ground for a portion of the festivities before he arose and got to the outskirts of the fight, appearing to grab at his mouth. He left the game with a trainer and was replaced by Luis Guillorme.
Cishek and Nationals third-base coach Gary DiSarcina, a former Mets coach, were tossed.
The Mets announced X-rays on Lindor’s jaw were negative, and the shortstop passed a concussion test.
Showalter said the Mets were unhappy Thursday when James McCann was hit twice by pitches and Pete Alonso was beaned by a pitch that grazed off his shoulder and hit his helmet flap.
The Mets have plunked one batter in the series — Scherzer hit Washington’s Josh Bell in the lower leg in the second inning Friday. The chilly night perhaps affected how well pitchers could grip the ball.
“It’s dangerous,” Showalter said before the game. “If their [catcher] sets up underneath the hitter and in, you better have command in there. I’ve done this with pitchers: If he doesn’t have command, you can’t let him pitch in there. Or you can’t let him make your club.”
None of the drama seemed to affect Scherzer, who more resembled Calm Max for the remainder of the game. After the long layoff between innings, he needed just 23 pitches to quietly sit down his former teammates over the next two innings, restoring some order to the contest.
Scherzer — who true to his reputation, was fully focused throughout, not bothering with ceremony or nostalgia or antsy ex-teammates — was not perfect, but he did not need to be.
He allowed three runs on a walk and three hits in six innings, including a two-run bomb by Bell in the fourth inning that tied the score at 3-3. Scherzer fully divorced himself from the Nationals with his first Mets start, which ended with fans who love him cheering hard against him because of the tensions.
For his part, Scherzer wanted no compassion. In good pal Juan Soto’s first at-bat, the superstar aggressively showed bunt — essentially trolling Scherzer — before he popped up to left. Soto appeared to want to say something to Scherzer before he rounded back to the dugout, but Scherzer, who won the 2019 World Series with Soto, would not look his way.
Lost in a game that became about offenses felt by the Mets was the way the Mets’ offense clicked. Yet again they came through with timely hits (5-for-14 with runners in scoring position) and big hits (five extra-base hits). Jeff McNeil homered, Eduardo Escobar launched his second double in as many games, Nimmo tripled in his season debut and Marte continued to display why the Mets gave him $78 million.
Lost, too, was the fact the bullpen has allowed just one run in seven innings, and the Mets — with so many injury concerns and no Jacob deGrom — are perfect through two games.
The Mets don’t think the Nationals pitchers, though, have been as perfect.
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