ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — It took less than two innings for the Mets to begin to like the quirks of Tropicana Field.
Brett Baty, who finished the Mets’ loss with two homers in a 3-for-4, four-RBI effort, smacked a second-inning pitch against the Rays that, for all intents and purposes, disappeared until it reappeared in the right-field seats for a three-run home run.
With two outs and two on, Baty turned on a middle-of-the-plate sinker from starter Aaron Civale, and just about everyone in the park believed it would be a flyout.
Tampa Bay’s Harold Ramirez camped in fairly deep right field and awaited a ball that he couldn’t find.
Ramirez threw out his arms in confusion, the ball lost somewhere in the catwalk-filled dome — before it appeared far behind him for what was estimated to be a 378-foot homer.
“It’s tough to see up there,” said Baty, who came through with the first multi-homer game of his career. “I have no idea what happened.”
Before the start of this series against the Rays, the Mets had not played at the notorious, AL East ballpark since 2021.
