Watch: Wright curses at Freeman, insists it's just playful banter
Freddie Freeman singlehandedly played the role of spoiler to the NL East-leading New York Mets on Wednesday, which didn't sit well with Mets captain David Wright.
With October nearing, the Mets took the field at their home ballpark against the 61-91 Atlanta Braves on Wednesday hoping to move toward clinching the division.
That would have been a dandy plan had Freeman not been on the Braves roster.
Entering the game as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning (he wasn't originally scheduled to play due to discomfort in his wrist), Freeman ripped a two-run double to right to put the Braves on top, 3-2, for the first time in the game.
Freeman's hit apparently hit the wrong button for Wright.
The Mets third baseman fired back in the bottom of the seventh with an RBI single to tie the game, 3-3. As he arrived to first base, Wright had some choice words for Freeman, and was caught on camera telling the Braves slugger, "(Expletive) you!" as he stood on the base after driving in the game-tying run.
Wright explained the incident after the game.
"I have animated conversations with a lot of people. Freddie's a thorn in our side," the 32-year-old third baseman said. "It's fun to get that competitiveness back and forth. I wasn't expecting to see him tonight. He comes off the bench and kills us again. I'll be glad to get rid of him and Andrelton Simmons and everybody else that beats us up over there. Freddie came in and singlehandedly beat us tonight. That's why he is who he is, and [it] seems like he just elevates his game against us."
Wright admitted that he was angry at Freeman, but not in a malicious manner.
"I am angry at him. He hit a two-run double and a three-run homer. I am angry at him, but more in a playful way," he said. "Freddie and I go back and forth every now and then."
While Wright hurled fire at Freeman after his RBI single, it would be Freeman who eventually got the last laugh, as he knocked a three-run home run in the top of the ninth to give the Braves a decisive 6-3 lead.
"I didn't even want to look at him," Wright said, per NJ.com, of when Freeman rounded the bases. "I had already been disgusted with him at that point. Like I said, I like Freddie. I enjoy watching him beat other teams. I just don't like him playing like he does against us."
With Freeman driving in five runs in two at-bats, the Mets lost for the sixth time in their last eight games as they seek to close out the NL East and secure their first playoff berth since 2006.
Nonetheless, the team's magic number to clinch the NL East title shrunk to five with the division runner-up Washington Nationals losing Wednesday as well.
