Marcus Stroman found himself in the middle of a tense inning and a back-and-forth shouting match during a Mets game against the Pirates. With a runner on third and two outs, Stroman worked against John Nogowski, a hitter the announcer admits he barely knows. Stroman didn’t get a couple calls he wanted, including a pitch he thought was in the zone. On a full count, after some gamesmanship with the batter calling time, Stroman got Nogowski to line out to Pete Alonso, ending the inning.
Stroman celebrated on his way off the mound, but Nogowski didn’t take it well. He shouted at Stroman on his way back to the dugout, saying things like “keep talking [expletive].” Stroman clapped back loudly, denying he said anything, and told Nogowski to “shut the [expletive] up.” Benches cleared, but nothing escalated beyond shouting. Stroman looked fired up but smiling. Then something weird happened. As he got to the dugout, Stroman hunched over in discomfort. It looked like nausea or dizziness, and he headed to the clubhouse.
Later in the game, Stroman returned and continued jawing from the top of the dugout railing, calling Nogowski out for walking away and not backing up his talk. Nogowski stayed calm, wiped his face, and played first base like nothing happened. Stroman kept firing verbal jabs his way, questioning who started it and saying Nogowski ran from the confrontation. The tension cooled off from there, but it was a clear example of how emotions can boil over fast in a close game.