Noah Syndergaard says if the Royals have a problem with him throwing inside they can meet him at the mound

Noah Syndergaard opened Friday night’s World Series Game 3 with a pitch up and in to Alcides Escobar, and some people thought it was intentional. It was.

Q. Just to follow up on that first pitch, the Royals had some concerns about that in their clubhouse. Escobar thought he said it was, quote, stupid, not that it was tight but that it was close to his head. What would your response be to that?
NOAH SYNDERGAARD: I mean, I certainly wasn’t trying to hit the guy, that’s for sure. I just didn’t want him getting too comfortable. If they have a problem with me throwing inside, then they can meet me 60 feet, six inches away. I’ve got no problem with that.

Q. Just wanted to clear up, Mike Moustakas said there’s 25 guys in there who think that your pitch was absolutely an intent pitch. And you just said you wanted to go high and tight on the first pitch. What was your exact intent on that pitch?
NOAH SYNDERGAARD: My intents on that pitch was to make them uncomfortable, and I feel like I did just that. I know that for the past I think every postseason game that Escobar has played in he’s swung at the first-pitch fastball, and I didn’t think he would want to swing at that one (laughter).

The Royals have admitted that Escobar is swinging at the first pitch of every game, and one of those resulted in an inside-the-park home run. It makes sense that Syndergaard would want to avoid that, but throwing at someone and challenging anyone on the team to a fight may not be the best way of going about things. Regardless, the pitcher got the job done, giving the Mets their first win of the series.