Knucklehead Elijah Dukes had to be restrained from going after Mike Pelfrey, stuck his tongue out at the Shea Stadium crowd, then finally incited the fans by waving his arms and blowing kisses to their chorus of boos. It was Dukes at his petulant worst.
The Mets beat Washington 13-10 last night to move 3 1/2 games ahead of the Phillies in the NL East race. But the troubled and troubling Nationals outfielder – who has faced a host of legal issues ranging from drug charges to domestic abuse convictions and paternity cases from four different women – still managed to do what he does best: create drama.
“Everybody knows he’s worked very hard and the Nationals have worked very hard with him to work on his temper. He’s been great the whole season. It’s unfortunate what happened,” Nationals manager Manny Acta said. “It’s unfortunate that he couldn’t keep his cool.”
Dukes refused to speak to the media, saying – with his back turned – “What the [heck] is there to talk about?”
Par for the course.
After Dukes hit a second-inning solo shot, Pelfrey came inside on his next pitch to Dukes in the fourth, his pitch sailing right by Duke’s midsection. Dukes started yelling at Pelfrey and stepped toward the mound with the bat.
“I definitely wasn’t trying to hit him. He’s probably not the guy you want to make mad,” Pelfrey said of Dukes, who threatened his wife last year by texting her with a photo of a gun.
“He flipped out. He was yelling, ‘Bring it on.’ I said ‘Dude, I wasn’t throwing at you.’ The umpire said I have to give you a warning. I told him I wasn’t trying to hit him. He said I know, but I have to give you as warning.”
Catcher Brian Schneider and plate umpire Doug Eddings stepped in front of Dukes, with Acta, Kory Castro and several coaches being required to calm him.
“I thought the way he reacted the pitch was behind him, so I asked Schneider where it was,” Jerry Manuel said. “He said it was almost a strike. So I said, ‘What am I doing out here? I might get beat up.’ “