Why was Pete Alonso so mad?
The Mets slugger exchanged words with Cubs pitcher Adrian Sampson in the the first inning Tuesday night after he narrowly missed a home run before he was eventually walked. Alonso slammed his bat in frustration after the base on balls.
Alonso said he was just steamed over missing out what would have been a two-run homer. However, Sampson — who threw six scoreless innings in Chicago’s 3-1 victory at Citi Field — said it went a little deeper than that.
Pete Alonso slams his bat in frustration during the Mets’ loss to the Cubs on Sept. 13, 2022.Jason Szenes/NY Post“I was just, like, ‘Don’t do that,’” Sampson told the Cubs TV broadcast about Alonso’s bat toss. “It doesn’t look good. It’s not part of our game. [The encounter] was a non-issue. I have a lot of respect for the guy.
“He’s a really great ballplayer. He does a lot of stuff on and off the field that I respect a lot. And we share the same agent. There’s no hard feelings. I just didn’t like to see that.”
After tossing the bat, Alonso turned his attention to the Cubs righty before the umpires intervened to keep the situation from escalating.
“I wasn’t upset that he didn’t throw the ball over the plate, I was frustrated the ball [in the corner] went foul,” said Alonso, who homered in the ninth inning to account for the Mets’ lone run. “It’s about putting runs on the board, and I was just frustrated at that.”
Pete Alonso gestures at Adrian SampsonSNY/Twitter
Adrian Sampson pitching for the Cubs against the Mets on Sept. 13, 2022.Getty ImagesIt’s been a frustrating two games for the Mets against the bottom-feeding Cubs, dropping both while putting up a total of three runs. The loss, coupled with the Braves’ win over the Giants, trimmed the Mets’ lead in the NL East back down to a half game.
