PHOENIX — The benches and bullpens emptied at the end of the fifth inning at Chase Field on Tuesday night, as players from the Mets and D-backs converged at first base and exchanged words following the final out.
New York right-hander Marcus Stroman capped a 1-2-3 inning by getting Arizona leadoff hitter Josh Rojas to pop out. As Stroman walked off the field, he and Rojas appeared to have a disagreement, which then escalated a bit, with other players pouring onto the field and having heated discussions.
Although the bullpens emptied, nothing more developed. Mets manager Luis Rojas and D-backs manager Torey Lovullo talked with each other, and then the players slowly retreated to their respective dugouts and bullpens.
New York led 2-0 at the time of the incident, but it then added two more runs the following half-inning on a Francisco Lindor RBI triple and a Dominic Smith sacrifice fly.
