The NL Wild Card spots come down to the wire, so literally every ball and stroke counts. Unfortunately for the New York Mets, umpire Ramon De Jesus was behind home plate for their Friday night meeting with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Frustration on the Mets side boiled over in the top of the fourth inning when De Jesus called out Francisco Alvarez on a strike despite the pitch dropping well below the strike zone.

Alvarez, thinking he had won a walk to load the bases, hopped furiously. Mendoza was even more outraged and he let the referee know.

Of course, getting in an umpire’s face to argue about balls and shots is a surefire way to do it. At least Mendoza got his money’s worth and let out all his frustrations before leaving the field.

Was Mendoza justified in his anger about that strike call? Absolute. It was a terrible decision, as evidenced by the pitch tracker. And it wasn’t even the only questionable call in the at-bat.

These weren’t the only questionable calls going into the game against the Mets, either. Mets Twitter came up with coupons.

The Mets are one of three teams competing for the two remaining Wild Card spots in the National League. They even came into Friday with the Diamondbacks and a game ahead of the Braves. Atlanta’s win over the Royals put them back just a half-game.

The evening in New York started poorly, even without the referee’s intervention. Rhy Hoskins hit a grand slam in the first inning to give the Brewers an early lead. However, Mark Vientos pulled two back with a home run of his own. When Alvarez’s “strikeout” occurred, the Mets were down 5-2. They should have had the bases loaded when the go-ahead run came to the plate. Instead, the inning ended without a result.

The weekend’s results all lead into a hugely important doubleheader against the Braves on Monday. Regardless of what the umpires call the strike zone, New York needs to find a way to avoid a meltdown before they even get a chance to decide this in Atlanta.