Freddie Freeman’s right wrist remains painful — about as painful as his two mighty swings were to the Mets Wednesday night.
Coming off the bench because of the wrist issue, Freeman singlehandedly beat the Mets, driving in five runs in two at-bats, as the woeful Braves stunned the Citi Field crowd with their second straight win over the NL East-leading Mets, 6-3, to cap a dismal 3-6 homestand.
It wouldn’t have been possible without the ailing Freeman, who stroked a pinch-hit two-run double off the right-field fence in the seventh that gave the Braves a lead and hit a mammoth three-run shot to the opposite field in the ninth off closer Jeurys Familia to provide the winning margin.
“We heard before the game his wrist was really bothering him and they didn’t think he was going to play,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “So I’m going to fire that scout.”
Before the game, in fact, Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez told reporters he wanted to avoid using Freeman. But with the Mets up a run, the bases loaded and one out in the seventh, Gonzalez called upon the left-handed slugger, who told his manager he would deal with the pain if the situation called for him to be used. Freeman, who said he feels a shooting pain in his wrist on every swing, launched a double off reliever Addison Reed, giving Atlanta the lead.
It didn’t sit well with David Wright.
When Wright pulled the Mets even with a two-out run-scoring single in the seventh, he dropped an F-bomb on Freeman upon reaching first base.
“F— you,” Wright was caught saying on video.
Both players, good friends, said it was in jest. The cameras missed both of them smiling after the remark, according to the Braves first baseman.
“They caught that on TV?” Freeman, his right wrist heavily wrapped, asked sheepishly. “They don’t need to blow that. It’s all in fun.”
They didn’t share any words when Freeman gave the Braves the lead for good in the ninth, blasting a three-run shot off Familia, the first home run the closer has given up since July 30, a span of 27 outings.
“I didn’t even want to look at him,” Wright said with a slight smirk. “I had already been disgusted with him at that point. I like Freddie. I enjoy watching him beat other teams. I don’t like it when he does it to us.”
Freeman’s struggles this season against the Mets were bound to end at some point, despite his frustrating injury-plagued season. He has owned them since 2012, blasting 15 home runs and 61 RBIs, equal to or more than any other opposing player has against the Mets. And he got a lasting memory in what has been a forgettable 2015 season.
“It’s been one of those years that hasn’t gone the way we all wanted it to go,” he said. “But when you have a game like this, you get down early and come back against a first-place team, it’s definitely a good feeling.”
— Additional reporting by Dan Martin
