Manager Terry Collins forewarned retaliation after Miami starter Tom Koehler drilled Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes with a fastball to the ribs in Tuesday’s 9-3 loss to the Marlins.
“I think Cespedes being hit bothered us a little bit,” Collins told reporters. “We’ll answer it in our due time.” (MLB.com)
After Koehler hit Cespedes in the first inning with the first pitch fastball, Cespedes stared him down and for a moment there was a sense he was about to charge the mound. But Cespedes flung his bat to the dirt and trotted to first base while glaring out to the mound.
While Koehler denied it was intentional, nobody was buying it. “I was trying to pitch him inside,” Koehler said. “I’ve been throwing curveballs down in the zone, he’s hit them hard. I’ve thrown him fastballs away, he’s hit them hard. So, I was trying to go in for a strike or for effect. It got away a little bit.”
All remained calm until the seventh inning when reliever Erik Goeddel threw a wild one behind Koehler — prompting a warning to both benches from the home plate ump.
Tonight’s game is the final meeting between the Mets and Marlins this season.
