Rhys Hoskins torments Mets with homer, Yohan Ramirez throws behind him as slide feud escalates
Rhys Hoskins threw a couple haymakers in the form of a two-run single and two-run homer, and the Mets threw a pitch behind him.
The Brewers slugger and Mets tormenter ducked under a 94-mph fastball from Yohan Ramirez in the seventh inning of a 7-6 Milwaukee win at Citi Field, the culmination of a growing feud after Friday’s fracas over a controversial slide at second base.
All game, there was wonder whether the Mets would respond to Hoskins’ late slide that infuriated Jeff McNeil and caused the dugouts and bullpens to empty a day prior.
Luis Severino did not buzz Hoskins — and could not get him out — but the drama escalated with Ramirez on the mound.
The Mets righty threw a fastball behind Hoskins, the ball bouncing to the backstop.
Ramirez charged after it, as if he had to cover home even though there was no runner on third base.
“I was trying to throw my sinker inside,” Ramirez said through interpreter Alan Suriel. “With this type of weather, I don’t have the grip that I’m accustomed to having. … But I wasn’t trying to hit him.”
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza echoed the same defense, and even Brewers manager Pat Murphy said, “I bet it wasn’t on purpose.”
Ramirez, a 28-year-old in his fifth season, has a history of wildness — but Hoskins did not appear to buy the defense.
“Big leaguers don’t miss by 8 feet,” Hoskins said. “Whether or not it was on purpose or not, that’s not for me to decide. I really don’t care.
“But this game has had a way of policing itself for many, many, many years. So let’s focus on doing it the right way if we’re going to do that.”
Ramirez was ejected and walked off to a standing ovation from a Queens crowd that wanted blood but was routinely disappointed.
Hoskins, who entered the series unpopular in the area from his days with the Phillies, received heavy jeers whenever he stepped to the plate.
But he silenced those jeers by reaching base in four of five plate appearances, including a single down the third-base line that scored two runs in the first inning and a smoked homer to left in the third.
Hoskins had cemented himself as a Mets villain Friday, when he slid late (but legally) into second base to attempt to break up a potential double play.
McNeil was furious, standing above Hoskins and screaming at him, and the dugouts and benches soon were emptied.
No punches were thrown, but Hoskins — who has had a history with both the Mets and McNeil, who said Hoskins has slid late into him in the past — became Public Enemy No. 1.
Hoskins mocked McNeil by balling his fists and shaking his hands near his eyes, the universal symbol for “crybaby.”
That gesture appeared again Saturday.
“It’s just some guys having fun,” Hoskins said of the gesture. “It seemed to work today, so if we keep winning, we might have to keep it there.”
Hoskins missed all of last season with a torn ACL.
Two games into his return, he has been at the center of a benches-clearing altercation and dived out of the way of a heater that could have done damage.
Is this feud over?
“I don’t know. I don’t really care to be honest,” Hoskins said ahead of the series finale Sunday. “I’m going to come here and try to win a ballgame tomorrow. That’s it.”
