Tensions from Friday’s Mets-Brewers matinée carried into Saturday, and it resulted in an ejection.
The benches cleared Friday, but no punches were thrown, after Milwaukee’s Rhys Hoskins slid hard into second baseman Jeff McNeil, who took exception. The slide was ruled legal.
Predictably, the Citi Field crowd booed Hoskins all day Saturday, but it didn’t bother him one bit. On the first pitch he saw, he laced a two-run single. Two innings later, he belted a two-run home run.
Jeff McNeil (1) of the New York Mets is held back by umpire Jonathan Parra after a play involving Rhys Hoskins of the Milwaukee Brewers during the top of the eighth inning in the home opener at Citi Field March 29, 2024, in New York City. (Christopher Pasatieri/Getty Images)
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After adding a single, Hoskins came up to the plate in the top of the seventh to face Yohan Ramirez, and Ramirez’s first pitch was a 94 mph fastball up and behind Hoskins.
As a few players jumped the dugout railings, umpires convened for a bit, while Hoskins told someone, “That’s f—ed up.”
Even Mets announcer Ron Darling criticized the pitch, saying “the message was about two hours late.”
The Milwaukee Brewers’ Rhys Hoskins yells toward the New York Mets’ Jeff McNeil as benches cleared during the eighth inning Friday, March 29, 2024, in New York (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
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After Hoskins’ slide Friday, McNeil gave him an earful. An umpire got in between McNeil and Hoskins, who was slow to get up and then jogged back to the dugout, eventually turning back to the infielder.
Cameras panned to the Brewers’ dugout, and players stormed the field. Mets players joined them.
McNeil was hot, and cameras showed Hoskins making a sarcastic face at the infielder.
Hoskins is in his first season with the Brewers, but there’s no love lost between him and the Mets. He was a thorn in the Mets’ side while playing for the Philadelphia Phillies.
Milwaukee Brewers designated hitter Rhys Hoskins stares into the New York Mets’ dugout after hitting a two-run home run in the third inning at Citi Field. (Wendell Cruz/USA Today Sports)
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In 2019, he hit a home run against New York and took 34 seconds to trot around the bases. Hoskins had also been upset with a pitch that was over his head from Jacob Rhame.
Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.
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