At least beating the Orioles 16-5 will help the Pythagorean W-L record, (which going into the night stood at the same 50-67 that the team is in real life.)
Brandon Nimmo went 5-for-5 and was hit by a Sean Gilmartin pitch (so we know it didn’t hurt.) Kevin Plawecki hit a grand slam. Wilmer Flores drove in three runs and had a home run, and Todd Frazier went 3-for-6 with a home run and 4 RBI. Camden Yards seems to agree with the Mets … but then again, at 27-30 on the road while they’re 24-37 at the indifferent confines of Citi Field, I’d say most buildings that aren’t built on an ancient burial ground agree with them.
Zack Wheeler wasn’t his recent self but he didn’t let being a little bit off turn into a big inning, which is a nice direction for the journey of Zack Wheeler to go to. He threw 95 pitches in five innings, which is a page from the chapter of Zack Wheeler’s struggles. But he only walked two as a bulk of Wheeler’s pitches were foul balls. He navigated through that minefield very well.
Maybe the most notable thing to happen all night was Keith Hernandez saying that the Marlins were right to peg Ronald Acuna Jr. on the first pitch of the game. That leads me to …
Today’s Hate List
Look, Keith is partially right. If somebody is eating your lunch, it’s okay to reclaim the inside part of the plate. It’s okay to get that batter to think. Maybe move his feet a bit, make him a little uncomfortable. If he hits the dirt, so be it.
That one pitch that Jose Urena threw? That wasn’t designed to do any of the above. That was designed to nail Acuna right between the numbers. Ballplayers will tell you that there’s a way to throw at a guy where he has no chance to get out of the way. That pitch Urena threw? That was that pitch. Plus …
The pitch that hit Ronald Acuña was 97.5 MPH.
Out of the 2,125 pitches that José Ureña has thrown this season, that's in the 99th percentile of the fastest pitches he's thrown.
That was also the fastest pitch José Ureña has ever thrown to open a game. pic.twitter.com/KYLVQvqER8
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) August 16, 2018
Urena was going after him, plain and simple. Because Acuna had hit home runs against them, and not because he was protecting a teammate. That’s bush league.
And what’s worse? Chad Fairchild should have chucked Urena out of the game immediately. If the umpires were so in tune to a play that happened seven months earlier that Adam Hamari could toss Noah Syndergaard right away, then Fairchild should have known that a guy who has home runs in five straight games getting plunked in the back on the first pitch of the game had some ill intent. It shouldn’t have taken Brian Snitker and the Braves dugout coming out to yell at Urena for Fairchild to do it.
And I still hate Adam Hamari, along with the jackpot that everyone’s ass was in.
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