Buck Showalter, always the jokester, even still found some levity in between games of a must-win doubleheader Tuesday when discussing his lineup for Game 2.
Shortly after saying “anything is in play” in the nightcap, including using Edwin Diaz – who got four outs to close Game 1 – a second time on the day, Showalter joked with the media about possibly leaving NL batting average leader Jeff McNeil out of the lineup.
“Would you sit him now?” Buck jocularly asked a couple reporters when asked about McNeil’s chase of the crown. “He’d shoot me! No, he’s playing.”
Showalter then said “this (managing) isn’t as hard as people make it out to be, just put the good guys in the lineup and the good pitchers in to pitch if they can physically.”
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McNeil went 2-for-3 in Game 1 to keep his average at .328, three points ahead of where Freddie Freeman was at the beginning of the day. He was indeed in the Game 2 lineup, still hitting third but playing right field instead of second base, as he vies to become the firstsecond Met ever to win a batting crown since Jose Reyes in 2011 – a year where Reyes led on the final day, then left the Mets’ finale after one at-bat and a bunt single raised his average to .337, two points ahead of Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun (who later went 0-for-4 to finish at .332).
That last point is pertinent on the other side of New York right now, as Aaron Judge, after going 1-for-5 in Game 1 of the Yankees’ doubleheader Tuesday, was five points behind Minnesota’s Luis Arraez, who was in the Twins’ lineup Tuesday night after missing three of the last four games with a hamstring issue.
Regardless, the better news for McNeil: the Marlins and Braves were tied 1-1 in the fifth when Game 2 of Mets-Nationals began, meaning hope was still alive for a walk-off NL East title Wednesday.
New York has seen 25 batting champions in MLB history - 10 Yankees, 9 Brooklyn Grooms/Superbas/Robins/Dodgers, 5 Giants, and Reyes - and
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