There’s something to be said for every baseball game featuring something you haven’t seen before. Our latest example came in the New York Mets’ Monday night road matchup against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Mets reliever Craig Kimbrel was set to deliver a 2-2 pitch to Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani. Then, Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez started walking out to the mound to presumably stop Kimbrel from taking a pitch clock violation, but it was almost too late.
Why was it “almost too late?” Well, that’s because Kimbrel nearly brought the heat as Alvarez was making his way to the mound, and the latter had to get down in a stance in front of the plate for safety before the former realized that the catcher called for time; Ohtani watched with apprehension from the batter’s box.
Ever seen that before?
Kimbrel, who was making his second appearance for the Mets after being added to their MLB roster on April 11, ultimately got Ohtani to flyout, finishing off a scoreless inning. That said, Ohtani and the Dodgers were victorious, as an RBI single from catcher Will Smith, a three-run home run from outfielder Andy Pages and eight shutout innings from left-hander Justin Wrobleski lifted Los Angeles to a 4-0 win.
Alvarez finished the game 1-for-3, and, through 15 games played, has hit four solo home runs — which account for all of his RBIs — while boasting a .302/.388/.605 slash line. The Mets have lost six consecutive games and are in last place in the NL East at 7-10.
As for the third player involved in the viral moment, Ohtani has totaled five home runs and 10 RBIs, while recording a .267/.410/.533 slash line. As a pitcher, Ohtani is yet to surrender an earned run, recording an 0.75 WHIP and posting eight strikeouts over his first two starts (12.0 innings pitched). The Dodgers own the best record in MLB at 12-4.
