'Throw it again!' Pete Alonso taunt after home run backfires as Braves come back to beat Mets

Kevin Skiver

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'Throw it again!' Pete Alonso taunt after home run backfires as Braves come back to beat Mets image

The Mets were .500 heading into Tuesday's game against the Braves, as they continue to turn around what has been a trying season. Despite being active players in free agency, the roster has had exploitable holes in it all season, and the results have been underwhelming thus far.

It seemed like early in the opener of a three-game set against the Braves, the Mets might be on the right track against the NL East leaders. They had jumped out to a 4-1 lead by the third inning, including a two-run home run off the bat of MLB's home run leader Pete Alonso.

Alonso then proceeded to taunt Braves rookie Bryce Elder, yelling "throw it again" from the dugout after rounding the bases.

As it turned out, that was ill-advised. Elder faced the minimum 10 batters over the next 3 1/3 innings, giving up just one hit that was erased via double play for the rest of his outing.

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Adding insult to injury, after Elder left the game in the top of the sixth, the Braves managed to get him a win by putting up a four-spot in the bottom frame of the inning to grab a 5-4 lead.

The Braves added an insurance run, but in the top of the ninth Alonso had a chance to spark something. He struck out, however, at the hands of Raisel Iglesias.

Alonso is leading MLB with 22 home runs after Tuesday, but with the Mets dropping to 30-31, it's been a frustrating season overall. He's hitting .231 on the year and he's made quite a bit of weak contact amid the power.

The Braves also got their revenge, chirping "throw it again" from the dugout as Atlanta climbed back in.

Elder was a good sport after the game. "If I hit one into the concourse, I might holler too," Elder told reporters after the game.

Elder did, however, say he didn't hear what Alonso had said from the dugout.

There's still time to turn things around for the Mets, but that timetable is rapidly speeding up. Now that it's June, the inconsistency has prevailed to date.

While there's nothing inherently wrong with chirping -- it's a perfectly normal part of baseball -- it certainly looks bad when the team you're chirping at comes back to win. 

Kevin Skiver

Kevin Skiver Photo

Kevin Skiver has been a content producer at Sporting News since 2021. He previously worked at CBS Sports as a trending topics writer, and now writes various pieces on MLB, the NFL, the NBA, and college sports. He enjoys hiking and eating, not necessarily in that order.