Cookie Crumbles, Benches Clear in Mets Loss to Cardinals

It was only a matter of time before the benches cleared in St. Louis. The Mets stayed tamed on Tuesday night after Pete Alonso got hit by a pitch in the head—for the second time this season.

The Amazins lead the league with 19 hit by pitches.

But something was in the air during Wednesday afternoon’s game. Fans could sense the tension between the Mets and Cardinals. It was only a matter of time before someone made the first move, leading to the eventual evacuation of both dugouts and bullpens. A brawl ensued after Yoan López nearly hit Nolan Arenado in the face on a pitch up and in.

Watch the whole thing here:

Arenado did not get hit but was reactive after the pitch whiffed by his face. He was ejected from the game and López received high-fives from his teammates in the dugout.

Other Mets members spoke to media following the 10-5 loss to the Cardinals.

Here is Oli Marmol’s take on what happened in the bottom of the eighth:

The Mets won the series but could not complete the sweep after Carlos “Cookie” Carrasco allowed eight runs (seven earned) on eight hits in 3.2 innings. It’s safe to say the Cookie crumbled despite have a three-run lead to work with.

The Cardinals got the scoring started in the first inning after Corey Dickerson singled to right center to bring home Tyler O’Neill. But back-to-back two-run doubles by Tomás Nido and Brandon Nimmo put the Mets up 4-1.

In the bottom of the third, Arenado hit a two-run single to make it a one run game. The following inning, Carrasco gave up a leadoff double to Yadier Molina then hit Edmundo Sosa with a pitch. He gave up an RBI double to Tommy Edman that tied the game at four apiece. Carrasco would retire the next two batters then intentionally walk Arenado to load the bases. Sosa scored on a wild pitch, advancing all the runners. Dickerson then reached first on an infield single that brought home Edman and put the Cardinals up 6-4.

Sean Reid-Foley came on in relief and gave up a two-run triple to Dylan Carlson to make it 8-4 after four innings. An RBI double by Arenado off Reid-Foley in the sixth gave the Cardinals a five-run cushion.

An RBI double by Francisco Lindor in the seventh was the last run the Mets would score, as Lopez proceeded to give up an RBI single to Paul Goldschmidt to make it 10-5.

The eighth inning is when the brawl occurred. J.D. Davis was hit by a pitch in the foot in the top of the inning and Arenado was the first batter in the home eighth when Lopez threw an errant pitch that nearly hit his adversary in the face.

While the Mets were unable to sweep the series, New York took two out of three against a strong Cardinals team. It is the first time in the team’s history that they won the first six series of the season.

The Mets have a rare day off on Thursday before opening up a series at home against the Philadelphia Phillies.

(Photo: USA Today Sports // cropped)