Benches clear in Mets-Brewers after former rival gets under Jeff McNeil’s skin
It turns out there was some tension boiling over after the Thursday Opening Day matchup between the New York Mets and Milwaukee Brewers was postponed due to rain. And who better to put it all over the edge than former Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins?
In the top of the eighth inning, Willy Adames grounded into a fielder's choice, and Hoskins was called out at second. But not before his slide attempt drew the ire of second baseman Jeff McNeil, who took exception, jawed back at Hoskins, and caused the benches to clear.
Nothing came of it and the umpires ruled the slide legal after reviewing it, but some old bad blood was renewed. Hoskins was caught by the TV cameras calling McNeil a crybaby and the Mets second baseman continued to lose his cool.
Sadly for the Mets, the Brew Crew got the last laugh ... thrice. The slide was legal, Hoskins clearly snuck in the best insult of the back-and-forth, and Milwaukee took home the 3-1 victory.
The Mets managed just one hit (a Starling Marte wall-scraping home run) and two walks on the afternoon. They were utterly dominated by Freddy Peralta and the Brewers' bullpen.
Benches clear in Mets-Brewers after former rival gets under Jeff McNeil’s skin
Did we mention Trevor Megill, Mets pitcher Tylor Megill's brother, earned the hold in the Brewers win, too?!
Though Hoskins' slide was deemed legal because he went straight through the bag, viewers can see that he made no effort to stop himself and then plunged his cleat into McNeil's shin. Then again, had McNeil made a clean exchange when trying to turn two, it may not have been an issue. Either way, this sets the stage for a chippy series for the remainder of the weekend.
The game was a quiet one. It lasted just two hours and 28 minutes. There were nine total hits and four runs scored on the day. Both teams combined for 17 strikeouts (the Mets contributed 10 of those).
Unfortunately, those optimistic Mets predictions will have to wait another day.