WATCH: Mets-Nationals near-brawl as benches clear after Francisco Lindor plunked

Francisco Lindor was hit in the face and Buck Showalter & the Mets came out of the dugout furious.

Lindor has left the game. pic.twitter.com/DYeTm5hQNX

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 9, 2022

The Washington Nationals need to chill the hell out.

In the midst of Friday night’s Mets-Nats National League East battle in the nation’s capital, which was broadcast with an awful Apple TV+ stream (cable trumps all, and I will die on that hill), Nationals reliever Steve Cishek hit Francisco Lindor in the face with a pitch. Cishek subsequently earned an ejection while Lindor also exited the game.

The incident led to Mets manager Buck Showalter very reasonably exiting the dugout heated — you can see the f-bombs coming from his lips. The benches then cleared for either team, but an all-out brawl did not occur.

It’s the fourth time a Nats pitcher has hit a Met with a pitch in the last two games, and the second time the pitch was up near the face region. Pete Alonso avoided a Kevin Pillar-type scenario during Thursday’s season-opener, as a pitch ricocheted off his shoulder and hit the helmet’s ear flap. Catcher James McCann was also hit twice Thursday, once by starter Patrick Corbin and another time by reliever Andres Machado.

I don’t want to hear it’s because of a lack of spider tack or sticky tack or whatever the hell you wish to call it. That was an issue addressed nearly a year ago — you’re a professional pitcher, so adapt to the situation.

This has become dangerous.