Reliever Jorge Lopez was ejected during the Mets’ 10-3 loss to the Dodgers on Wednesday afternoon, punctuating a frustrating month for The Amazins.
Lopez came in during the Dodgers’ six-run eighth inning, trying to get out of the inning started by Adam Ottavino. However, the veteran righty lasted just 0.1 innings in large part due to the ejection. He faced two batters, allowing one hit before Shohei Ohtani took Lopez deep to put the game away for good.
Pitching to Freddie Freeman, the Dodgers’ first baseman checked his swing but when the Mets appealed to third base umpire Ramon De Jesus and was called safe, Lopez yelled something to the official causing the ejection.
Lopez jawed at De Jesus some more before manager Carlos Mendoza got his reliever out of there. Lopez promptly threw his glove over the netting and into the stands as he went down to the locker room.
“Whenever you go into a stretch like this you’re going to see some emotions from players,” Mendoza said after the game. “What we saw out of Lopez, that’s not acceptable. We will address that internally here.“
Wednesday’s frustrations were compounded by the injury news that Edwin Diaz, who was struggling already, had to be placed on the injured list due to a shoulder issue. Pete Alonso was hit by a pitch in the first inning of Wednesday’s game and had to exit.
Despite the frustrations, Mendoza expects his players to act and represent the Mets in a certain way.
“I understand guys will get frustrated at times and show emotion. I’m not going to tolerate that,” he said of Lopez’s actions. “Part of what we’re trying to do here… We gotta be better.”
When asked if he wants to set a tone with the team in his first season as manager, Mendoza said that’s “100 percent” correct.
“That’s what we’re trying to do here especially when things are not going well,” he said. “Represent the organization and fanbase. Again, we’ll address this.”
After Wednesday’s loss, the Mets (22-33) are a season-high 11 games below .500 with just 24 hours to try and figure out how to get back in the win column before the Arizona Diamondbacks come into town tomorrow.
With the 2024 season only a third of the way through, Mendoza says he doesn’t feel he has lost his team but actions like what Lopez did can’t happen.
Mendoza addressed his team after his postgame comments to the media. How the Mets respond will be seen Thursday when they start their four-game series with Arizona.
Source Agencies
