Desperate times call for desperate measures. Trailing 4-0 to the San Diego Padres in the winner-take-all Game 3 of the National League Wild Card playoff series, the situation was desperate for the New York Mets. With that, their manager, Buck Showalter, took drastic action regarding San Diego pitcher, Joe Musgrove.
Before New York third baseman Eduardo Escobar came up to lead the bottom of the sixth inning off, Showalter walked out onto the field and requested that the umpires check Musgrove for illegal foreign substances. The umpires honored the request but found nothing.
The decision didn’t work for Showalter or the Mets. While it got the crowd into the game, Musgrove was unbothered — at least judging by his performance in the sixth inning. He retired the Mets in order, getting Escobar, Tomás Nido and Brandon Nimmo on a groundout, strikeout and flyout, respectively.
After the strikeout of Nido, Musgrove did make a defiant gesture towards New York’s dugout.
The reaction to Showalter’s action was mixed.
Buck Showalter‘s. That’s BS what you just did. #padres #Mets
— Heath Bell (@HeathBell21) October 10, 2022
Hail Mary from Showalter to disrupt Musgrove. He’s a fun one
— Andy Martino (@martinonyc) October 10, 2022
Musgrove was not only shutting the Mets out through the first five innings but had surrendered only one hit. Still, New York’s hitters were actually making contact with his pitches. The sixth-inning strikeout of Nido was only Musgrove’s fifth of the game, a relatively modest total considering he’s had more strikeouts than innings pitched in each of the last three seasons.
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