Francisco Lindor got his wish, but Walker Buehler got the last laugh.
Buehler, the Red Sox starter who earned an ejection on Tuesday night in the 2-0 win over the Mets, took a shot at Lindor after the shortstop was captured telling the umpires to eject the righty in the third inning.
What should have been a dream setup for the Mets instead backfired, with Boston’s bullpen covering the final 6 ⅔ innings to grab the first two games of the series.
“I wouldn’t want me out there either,” Buehler quote tweeted a post calling Lindor’s antics “corny” that featured a video of the shortstop egging the umpires on.
“Sad thing is the BULLPEN is full of f–king animals. Tough choice.”
The path to Buehler having a semi day off began after he hit Lindor with a pitch in the third inning of a scoreless game.
Lindor, batting lefty, attempted to lean into the pitch with his left knee but it missed, instead gracing his back foot to give him a free pass.
One batter later, Lindor stole second base on a 1-0 pitch that clearly should have been a strike but instead was deemed a ball, according to home plate umpire Mike Estabrook.
Buehler could not contain his anger and that led to his early exit.
Estabrook approached Buehler and seemingly warned him not to continue, but Buehler kept on going and received the boot.
The TNT broadcast captured Lindor waving with his right hand and seemingly saying “throw him out” before smiling, perhaps after Buehler’s ejection.
The post Buehler quote tweeted featured the corresponding video and ripped Lindor in a rather classless manner, calling for him to be beaned.
“The corniest part of the Walker Buehler ejection wasn’t Francisco Lindor leaning into a pitch before like a loser but that he talked s–t, screaming + rooting for the ejection,” X user @iJordanMoore posted. “Big loser energy. Warrants a fastball to the back tomorrow if I’m the Red Sox.”
Soto walked after Buehler’s ouster to give the Mets a prime scoring chances but they failed en route to an 0-for-7 night with runners in scoring position.
The Mets (29-20) have scored just 14 runs in their past eight games, going 3-5 in that stretch to fall 1 1/2 games behind the Phillies in the NL East.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza lamented his team not taking advantage of the umpiring gift.
“Especially the way (Buehler) was throwing the ball,” Mendoza said. “But I also thought he might be on a short pitch count, coming back from injury, so we were ready for the bullpen as well. Whether it’s against Buehler, against their bullpen, we’re just going through it right now.”