Beltran Vs LaRoche – Ding, Ding, Ding, Round 3

Round One

On Friday June 4th after the Mets got swept by the Pirates, Carlos Beltran said he was embarrassed.

“We have to play better. There’s no doubt we have to play better. I mean, we have to take this personally. It can’t happen. It can’t happen us being able to come here and lose three games just like that. It just can’t happen. Three games with this team – I know they’re a big-league ballclub, but we’re better than them. We’re better than them. And we know we’re better than them, but we have to do something about it.”

Beltran should have felt embarrassed being swept by the Pirates who are in last in their division. Many Mets’ fans were happy to see their team leader step up and call for some accountability from his slumping teammates

Round Two

Adam LaRoche responded by saying Beltran was showing “zero class.”

“I think it shows zero class and zero professionalism,” the Pirates’ first baseman said yesterday at Minute Maid Park. “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.”

Beltran really couldn’t have expected his remark that he was “embarrassed” to be swept by the Pirates to go over well in the Pirates’ clubhouse.

Round Three

It was Beltran’s turn Saturday, with the New York Mets center fielder dismissing LaRoche’s comments.

“What I said was as a team we should all feel embarrassed, because, being honest, I don’t care what he said,” Beltran said before the Mets’ game against the Washington Nationals. “I believe we’re a better team than them. I don’t care what he said. I know that we could have won the first game and there’s no excuse why we would have lost that one. If we would have won that one, I tell you we would have won one or two more. There’s no doubt.”

So far Beltran is up 2-1 against LaRoche. We’ll have to see if Adam has anything to say after that.