Cardinals brawl: These players could be suspended

A suspension could be on its way to a St. Louis Cardinals player involved in a shoving match between the Cards and New York Mets Wednesday afternoon.

After a series of close calls between the pitching staff and hitters for both teams, frustration came to a head in the final game of a three-game set between the Mets and Cardinals Wednesday.

Yoan Lopez was on the mound in the eighth inning for the Mets as Cards slugger Nolan Arenado came to bat. Lopez threw up and in on Arenado buzzing his head. Arenado took exception and began chirping at Lopez to bring it on and tossing Tomas Nido aside.

There was some pushing and shoving. Cardinals’ first base coach Stubby Clapp even took down Mets slugger Pete Alonso.

The brawl comes after five hitters were hit in Tuesday’s game. This includes Pete Alonso who was hit on the helmet Tuesday evening by reliever Kodi Whitley. Benches were close to clearing here as well.

After the game, Mets pitcher Chris Bassitt said he had some close calls complaining that there is too much inconsistency among the balls being used this season, and gets compounded in different environments.

Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas clapped back on Bassitt saying he hadn’t had this experience, noting it’s not the baseball’s fault and that he should “take some responsibility” for his actions.

Cardinals who could be suspended after brawl with Mets

Arenado is likely to receive a suspension for his actions Wednesday afternoon. He did shove Nido out of his way pretty forcefully. The rest of his actions were more verbal.

Clapp’s actions to take down Alonso were more him protecting the players from further escalating the matter. He should not receive a punishment.

It will be interesting to see if Wednesday’s actions lead to the league looking back at Tuesday’s game involving Whitley hitting Alonso on the helmet.  Whitley could face either a fine or suspension for the hit-by-pitch on Alonso.