Mets Friday Night Fights: Rats, raccoons, and a donnybrook

In case you haven’t been paying attention to the New York Mets on Friday nights, you’ve missed a lot. Seriously. Cancel all plans. Friday nights have been a night for the Mets to literally fight—maybe.

Last night, the Mets played their first Friday game of the month. Things ended on a dramatic walk-off hit by Patrick Mazeika, the first hit of his MLB career. Prior to this, an incident occurred in the tunnel leading to the clubhouse. There’s a lot of speculation as to what happened. Many people have drawn the same conclusion that Francisco Lindor and Jeff McNeil had an exchange of knuckles.

After the game, Francisco Lindor told a little white, orange, and blue lie about Jeff McNeil and New York City rats looking like raccoons or something like that.

We all know he was lying and the truth is something we’ll probably never know about. He’s making $341 million so he’ll never need to write a tell-all book.

There’s no denying some of the other Mets Friday night fights this year

One week earlier, we saw a true fight on the field. This one wasn’t hidden from the cameras and between two players wearing the same uniform. This was the exchange of words between Dominic Smith and Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jose Alvarado. Alvarado was the clear instigator in this bench-clearing situation, one that never turned into a full all-out brawl.

Tempers flared in this series. We’ll likely see a continuation of some form when the two teams play again.

Only one week before this game, on April 23, the Mets actually played their first Friday game of the season. Two off-days and a postponement in Colorado was how the Friday schedule began. In this game, there was less of a fight and more of a beat down from the mound.

Mets starter Jacob deGrom struck out 15 Washington Nationals hitters on his way to a two-hit shutout. He also happened to go 2 for 4 at the plate with a double, RBI, and two runs scored.

Next Friday, the Mets play the Tampa Bay Rays down in Florida. Will we see more fisticuffs? By then, I suspect any animosity between current Mets players will be in the past. The walk-off win in this particular game seemed to settle the mood and cheer everyone up.

It’s funny how winning can turn a team’s attitude around. Thanks in part to a spectacular performance by the Mets bullpen, hustle from Pete Alonso to score on the final play, and Lindor tying things up earlier with his first home run at Citi Field as a member of the Mets, this edition of Mets Friday night fights won’t have much negative carryover.

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And for the record, New York City rats are the size of some children.