Pete Alonso didn't miss an opportunity to talk a little trash to the Braves after his latest monster home run, but emerging Atlanta ace Bryce Elder said he didn't have a problem with the Mets slugger's taunts.
After blasting a 448-foot two-run homer Tuesday, Alonso was recorded yelling toward Elder, "Throw it again! Throw it again, please! Throw it again," in reference to the right-hander's hanging slider.
Elder, who leads the National League with a 2.26 ERA, told reporters that he did not hear Alonso yelling at him and later said he was not insulted.
"I mean, if I hit one on the concourse, I might holler, too," Elder said.
Alonso's major-league-leading 22nd homer gave the Mets a 4-1 lead and was the second two-run blast surrendered in the fourth inning by Elder, who also yielded a long homer to Francisco Lindor.
The Braves got the last laugh, however, in the sixth inning when they rallied for four runs to take the lead for good.
After Sean Murphy's two-run double narrowed Atlanta's deficit to 4-3, Braves reliever Tyler Matzek appeared to yell "Throw it again!" toward the Mets. The Braves tied the game two batters later on an RBI double by Marcell Ozuna, who then scored the go-ahead run on Orlando Arcia's single. The run-scoring hits by Ozuna and Arcia both also came off sliders from Mets reliever Drew Smith.
Atlanta also exacted a measure of revenge against Alonso when closer Raisel Iglesias struck out the two-time All-Star on a 98 mph fastball for the first out of the ninth inning. The Braves (36-24) moved 6½ games ahead of the rival Mets (30-31) in the NL East with the 6-4 victory.
"It's always [big] against the Mets," Braves left-hander A.J. Minter told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "It's that division rivalry where it feels like a postseason atmosphere."