Daniel Murphy hit a loud home run against his old team and let them know it with a fired-up trot around the bases. He kept chirping in the dugout, clearly enjoying the moment. The very next batter, Ian Desmond, saw a pitch come high and tight. Not unusual, maybe just part of a setup. But the next pitch hit him. Desmond wasn’t happy but didn’t leap to conclusions. He tossed the ball back toward the mound, more confused than angry.
Murphy fired up again, yelling for pitches over the plate. Pete Alonso slammed his glove and marched out, but Todd Frazier cut him off, calming things down. He told Murphy it wasn’t intentional, just bad optics. Mets manager Mickey Calloway stepped in too, promising it wasn’t on purpose. The benches emptied but no punches flew. Tension hung around, especially when Jacob deGrom walked past Desmond with a look that sparked more confusion than confrontation.
Michael Conforto, thinking it was over, started heading out to right field, only to realize things were still simmering. Murphy kept jawing, odd as ever, gesturing and reacting. Eventually it cooled off. Just another almost-fight in a long baseball season. Everyone knew it looked bad, but most seemed to agree it wasn’t anything more than a poorly timed pitch after a big homer.