If Noah Syndergaard was trying to send a message to the Kansas City Royals with his up-and-in first pitch, it seems to have worked.
We already saw that Mike Moustakas was furious with Syndergaard’s first pitch on Friday night. Unsurprisingly, though, his teammates feel the same way. Here are just a few of the comments that various Royals players made after the game.
Alex Rios on Noah Syndergaard's first pitch: "I thought it was weak. Very weak. I thought it was unprofessional."
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughStar) October 31, 2015
The Royals are pissed about Syndergaard going up and in on Escobar. "That's bad," Escobar said. "That's bad."
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughStar) October 31, 2015
Escobar on Syndergaard's first pitch:"Throw inside, just don't throw at my head."
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) October 31, 2015
Eric Hosmer on pitch to Escobar: "Everyone is upset about it. You don't want a teammate have his head thrown at, so everybody is upset."
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) October 31, 2015
“He wanted to say he came up with a master plan, he had a way to figure out [Escobar’s] aggression,” Hosmer went on to say, via USA Today. “Throwing at a guy’s head, that’s no way to go about it.”
“The game will find a way to make that go away,” Hosmer said, “and maybe think of our own master plan. Who knows?”
The pitch was higher than it was inside, but considering Escobar missed time with a concussion after being hit by a pitch earlier in the season, his reaction is understandable. Now, a World Series that looked like it could turn into a blowout is a series again, and it has an edge to it as well.
