A “tense” MLB Opening Day matchup between the New York Mets and Washington Nationals had already created hostility between the two NL East squads. Just one day later, a scary moment in tonight's game caused tempers to boil over, and the benches to clear.

In the top of the fifth inning, Mets star shortstop Francisco Lindor was hit in the face by a pitch from Nationals pitcher Steve Cishek. This comes just one day after Mets players were hit by pitches three times in the opening game of the series, with one being a pitch that eventually made its way to the face of Mets slugger Pete Alonso. Alonso's pitch had initially made contact with his shoulder.

Francisco Lindor, who seemed to be ok after the scary incident, had stepped up to the plate with no outs and Starling Marte on second base. As Lindor turned to bunt, a fastball got away from Cishek, making contact with Lindor's head and what appeared to be his face. With last night's precedent and his star shortstop lying on the ground, Mets manager Buck Showalter took to the field, along with most of the Mets' players.

This in turn caused the Nationals players and staff to come onto the field in protest, where shoving and shouting ensued. Both teams were separated and went back to their dugouts. Lindor would come out of the game while Cishek was ejected from the contest.

One possible reason for the plunking through two games could be Major League Baseball's new ball, which has reportedly caused grip issues for pitchers around the league.