Brett Baty was involved in a puzzling moment for the Mets on Wednesday night at Citi Field as he was charged with a phantom ABS challenge.
The third baseman struck out looking in the bottom of the sixth inning and glared in the direction of umpire Junior Valentine before quickly raising his arm in the air.
The gesture fell well short of the required helmet tap to challenge a call, but Valentine nonetheless ruled that Baty had contested the strike, and the pitch was officially reviewed.
The called strike was quickly confirmed, as a confused Baty could be seen pleading his case to the umpire.
The bizarre sequence cost the Mets their final challenge of the game, and manager Carlos Mendoza wasted little time entering the field and arguing with Valentine’s interpretation of the moment.
The Mets trailed the Tigers 2-1 when the strange Baty strikeout occurred but tied the game in the seventh inning.