WASHINGTON -- A nice little war of words brewing between the Mets' Carlos Beltran and Pirates first baseman Adam LaRoche.
LaRoche took extreme exception Friday to Beltran's comments the day before expressing embarrassment at the Mets' three-game sweep by Pittsburgh this week.
LaRoche laid into Beltran once the Pirates reached Houston on Friday, telling the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that Beltran had "zero class."
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"I think it shows zero class and zero professionalism," LaRoche told the newspaper. "When somebody says that, they know what they're saying, and they know it's going to get out. He knows we're not going to be real happy about it.
"If you go and say that to your buddies, it's one thing. If you go to the media and make that public for us to hear? Yeah, that's no class."
LaRoche finished with a zinger, saying: "You know, if we're as bad as he says we are and we swept them, then what [does] that make them?"
LaRoche's claim that Beltran lacked class and professionalism truly got a rise out of the Mets' normally mild-mannered center fielder yesterday.
"I don't care about what he say," Beltran, who went 0-for-4 with a strikeout during last night's 7-1 loss to the Nationals, said. "I say the way I feel. This is how I feel about the team that day. Did he say that [about no class]? I don't agree with him. I've got class and I've got all of what he said I don't have."
Thanks to Wednesday's rainout, Beltran and LaRoche will get another chance to renew acquaintances this season when the Mets return to Pittsburgh on July 2 for the makeup game.
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LaRoche took extreme exception Friday to Beltran's comments the day before expressing embarrassment at the Mets' three-game sweep by Pittsburgh this week.
LaRoche laid into Beltran once the Pirates reached Houston on Friday, telling the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that Beltran had "zero class."
Mets Blog
"I think it shows zero class and zero professionalism," LaRoche told the newspaper. "When somebody says that, they know what they're saying, and they know it's going to get out. He knows we're not going to be real happy about it.
"If you go and say that to your buddies, it's one thing. If you go to the media and make that public for us to hear? Yeah, that's no class."
LaRoche finished with a zinger, saying: "You know, if we're as bad as he says we are and we swept them, then what [does] that make them?"
LaRoche's claim that Beltran lacked class and professionalism truly got a rise out of the Mets' normally mild-mannered center fielder yesterday.
"I don't care about what he say," Beltran, who went 0-for-4 with a strikeout during last night's 7-1 loss to the Nationals, said. "I say the way I feel. This is how I feel about the team that day. Did he say that [about no class]? I don't agree with him. I've got class and I've got all of what he said I don't have."
Thanks to Wednesday's rainout, Beltran and LaRoche will get another chance to renew acquaintances this season when the Mets return to Pittsburgh on July 2 for the makeup game.
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