The Los Angeles Dodgers were able to touch Noah Syndergaard up for some runs early in Wednesday night’s game, and Syndergaard suspects something fishy may have been going on.
After setting the Dodgers down 1-2-3 in the first with two strikeouts, Syndergaard was hit hard in the second. The New York Mets starter surrendered three doubles in a row that allowed the Dodgers to plate two. They had another double and two singles in the third to tie the game at three.
Thor’s final line was three runs, seven hits, two walks and five strikeouts over six innings. He took a no-decision as the Dodgers came back to win 9-8 in the ninth.
After the game, Syndergaard said the only way the Dodgers could have hit some of his hard fastballs up and in would have been to cheat.
Noah Syndergaard was puzzled on how the #Dodgers were able to get to his fastballs up and in early in the game: "I feel like the only way they could have gotten to that was to cheat."#NYMets #Thor
— Michael J. Duarte (@michaeljduarte) May 30, 2019
Syndergaard was throwing hard in the game. MLB.com tracked several of his pitches at 99-100 mph. However, they also say the doubles hit by Corey Seager and Alex Verdugo came on 92 mph pitches. In the third inning, the Dodgers’ three hits all came on pitches that were tracked at 98 mph or higher.
Mets manager Mickey Callaway felt similar to Syndergaard and said the Mets were “a little perplexed” by some of the pitches the Dodgers hit.
Mickey: "Like I said, we were a little perplexed with some of the pitches they hit. It seemed like they were well-executed with really good stuff."
— Matt Ehalt (@MattEhalt) May 30, 2019
The theme of suspicion continued with closer Edwin Diaz, who gave up four runs in the ninth to blow the save in what was the worst outing of his career. He said he executed his pitches.
Diaz: "Today was easily the worst day of my career, worst game of the season for me. I thought I threw excellent pitches, threw strikes, I threw the ball where I wanted to, and they just got me.” pic.twitter.com/jXmXz9OD7N
— Matt Ehalt (@MattEhalt) May 30, 2019
Diaz gave up back-to-back homers and then back-to-back doubles to start the inning before allowing the winning run.
Dodgers fans will say it’s cheap and poor sportsmanship on the Mets to blame getting beat on cheating. After all, the Dodgers have scored the most runs in the NL. This is sort of just what they do. Maybe the pitcher with the 4.90 ERA shouldn’t be so surprised to see teams hit him, though he’s never one to keep his thoughts to himself.
