Washington – Citizens are sorry.
There wasn’t much making excuses or finger-pointing to walk out of the local club on Friday night after comfortable bowler Steve Chechik hit Francisco Lindor near his face with a pitch. They kicked the clearing and benches incident. The Mets star was hit near the face twice in his first two games. Pete Alonso was hit on Thursday by a blow that deflected from the shoulder and poured out of his mouth.
Dave Martinez, Nationals head coach, admitted, “I’d be pissed off” if that were the case.
“They are upset, and I understand that,” Martinez added. “Both times it was unintentional – very unintentional. But it did happen, so I don’t feel bad about what they did. I went there to protect our players.”
Cesek and Nationals third base coach Gary Desarsena has been fired. As Lindor left the game – 7-3 win for Mets – But the X-ray and concussion test turned out to be negative. The court was designed for high and inside because Lindor squared off to defeat.
“I was shocked because I don’t think I’ve ever been left-handed in the face or head before,” Cech said. “I lowered my head down and my first intention was to go see if he was ok. While I was doing that, I realized it was a bad idea because I lit up their seats a bit.”
Cech later walked into the medical room to check the results of Lindor’s X-ray. In fact, he found Lindor waiting.
“I shook hands with him and apologized and made sure he was okay. Sychk said. I told him I’m sorry about what happened. Your teammates are clearly supporting you and I respect that. He was nice to her. Really nice guy.”
Cishek was fired for his role as the aggressor in the skirmish (as was the case with DiSarcina) and not for pitching, as the stewards later confirmed.
“There was no intention,” Sychk said. “I thought I’d definitely get a warning, but his dismissal was a bit of a surprise.”
Mets third base coach Joey Cora looked as if he was heading straight to Chechk as he emptied the dugout, pointing Lindor down in the dirt. Cishek kept hearing the Mets counting the number of batsmen (four) to start the season.
“I was just saying, ‘If you think I hit him on purpose, you’re crazy. I didn’t,’ Cech said. “Unfortunately, I was trying to defend my integrity, but also the integrity of my teammates because a lot of things were said.
“Honestly, this wasn’t the time to do that after hitting the best player in the face. I wish I’d kept my mouth shut and put it on. … Even if it’s an apology, it’s unnecessary. They just needed the support of their teammates there. I understand that. .”
Easier said than done.
“I see Pete Alonso – a huge guy – coming out of the corner of my eye saying things,” Cech said. “My first intention is to defend myself.”
Martinez said bowler Mason Thompson apologized before Friday’s game for Alonso’s injury on Thursday.
“This is disgusting,” Martinez said. “You never want to see anyone in the head. I don’t know what’s going on. I’ve got two [pitchers] who are very upset about it.”
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