MLB suspends players involved in Mets vs Cardinals bench clearing brawl

The League has taken action against those involved in Wednesdays conflict as it moves to demonstrate a zero tolerance policy for violent conduct.

MLB suspends players after Mets and Cardinals brawl

When the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals met on Wednesday afternoon to close out their three-game series, fans couldn’t have expected that by the end of the game there would be a full-on bench clearing brawl, but that’s exactly what happened. Apparently the result of several batters being struck by pitches, the Mets who incidentally have been hit by 19 pitches this year - six more than any other team - decided that enough is enough. As for the tipping point itself, it was when reliever Yoan López fired one up high at Nolan Arenado.

With that said, MLB announced on Thursday that it had suspended Arenado for two games for “contributing to the incitement of the incident,” while Cardinals reliever Génesis Cabrera, who hit JD Davis with a pitch in the inning before was also suspended, but for one game. Should either choose to appeal the suspension, they will be permitted to play until said appeal is heard. Additionally, the two players along with Lopez received undisclosed fines as well as Cardinals Jack Flaherty and the Mets’ Taijuan Walker. In the case of Flaherty and Walker it’s understood that their sanctions were the result of them having left the dugout to participate in the incident while officially being on the injured list.

Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado explains

According to his statements, Nolan Arenado had seen enough. “After (Davis) got (hit) in the ankle, that was kind of the last straw for them, and I had a feeling it was coming,” Arenado said after Wednesday’s game. “(The pitching being up high) was more of the problem. I get what’s going on in this series, and it’s part of the game. I don’t know how close it was, but it felt close.” While there can’t be justification in this case for violence, it’s worth noting that as mentioned before a total of five players - three Mets and two Cardinals - were struck with the ball during Tuesday’s game. Though none appeared to be intentional, it certainly didn’t help.

Mets pitcher Chris Bassitt, who hit a batter in the game, criticized the league saying that the balls themselves are too inconsistent to which the Cardinals’ Miles Mikolas responded by saying, “It’s not the ball’s Take some responsibility for your actions.” The sentiments were also echoed by Mets outfielder Starling Marte. “It’s one of those things, whether it’s intentional or not, it has to stop,” Marte said after Tuesday’s game. “We’re tired of it and we’re going to have to do something about it if it continues to happen because it is uncomfortable every time you go out there to get hit.” Interestingly the Mets and Cardinals will have a chance to go at it once again when they clash for a four game series at Citi Field from May 16th - 19th.