While all eyes are on their crosstown rivals and New York Yankee Aaron Judge’s run at the American League home run record, the playoff-bound New York Mets set an MLB record of their own on Wednesday.
As has been the case since early in the season, Mets batters were once again the targets of opposing pitchers on Wednesday as multiple New York hitters were plunked by Milwaukee Brewers hurlers. Mets outfielder Mark Canha, who leads the team in hits by pitches this season with 24 and is tied for the league lead with Chicago Cubs catcher Willson Contreras, was hit twice by Milwaukee starter Adrian Houser to tie the Mets with the 2021 Cincinnati Reds for the most hit batsman in modern MLB history.
“It’s like a broken record at this point,” Canha said. “We just kind of roll our eyes when it happens now and move on. I can’t explain it. We have a lot of good, dangerous hitters. And you have to pitch good hitters in. There’s nothing you can do except capitalize on it. Make it hurt.”
Later, when Mets infielder Luis Guillorme was plunked in the ninth inning by Brewers reliever Jake Cousins, the club as a whole set a modern AL/NL record with its 106th hit batsman of the season. (The 1889 Orioles hold the overall record with 160 hit batsmen.)
After Guillorme took his base, Mets manager Buck Showalter jokingly requested the record-breaking ball. “It would be obscene to tell you what I’m going to do with it,” Showalter told reporters. “No, I haven’t even thought about it, to be honest with you. I gave it to the hitting coaches. They can do what they want with it.”
Despite the three free bases they received in the game, the Mets lost to the Brewers to snap a six-game winning streak. They still sit atop the NL East at 95-56 and have already secured a spot in the postseason.
More Like This
Thanks for reading InsideHook. Sign up for our daily newsletter and be in the know.
