The rivalry between the Atlanta Braves and the Mets never fails to provide viral moments when these two NL East foes matchup.

The latest instance was a quick exchange of words between two of each team’s respective best players.

After Spencer Schwellenbach diced up the Mets on Monday, Spencer Strider continued his great work with five solid innings on Tuesday.

Across those five innings, he racked up eight strikeouts, but it was the final one that got the internet buzzing.

Strider painted a fastball on the inside corner to strike out Juan Soto to end the fifth inning. Soto immediately turned to home plate umpire Adam Hamari to dispute the strike three call.

As Strider was walking off the mound, he made sure to let Soto know he got him in this battle and wasn’t having it with his whining.

Spencer Strider had to remind Juan Soto where the pitch was after he struck him out.

(Via: @SNYtv)pic.twitter.com/zsta1X10t0

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) June 25, 2025

Spencer Strider has words for Juan Soto after perfectly placed strikeout

Of course, Soto’s knowledge of the strike zone is amongst the best baseball has ever seen.

However, he does tend to argue/whine about almost any borderline call. While that pitch wasn’t “right down the middle” like Strider suggested, it was perfectly placed and a lot better pitch than some of other strike calls we saw from the home plate ump on Tuesday.

Soto earned walks in his first two plate appearances against Strider, but it was Spencer who got the last laugh.

It’s pretty common baseball banter, but there’s no doubt with the current record of the Braves and the tailspin the Mets are currently in that moments like this feel all the more intense.

Expect many more of these high intensity games as the Braves and Mets still have two pressure packed games to get through this week.