Slumping Mets mocked by pitcher they released in lopsided loss to Athletics

August has not been kind to the New York Mets. And on Tuesday night, they hit a new low.

After a 4-6 West Coast road trip, the Mets returned to the comforts of Citi Field to face off against the last-place Oakland Athletics. But the A's jumped on the Mets from the first pitch, coasting to a dominant 9-4 win. It was the Mets' fourth straight loss, dropping them to 61-58.

As if losing wasn't humiliating enough, a one-time Met rubbed salt in his former team's wound. Journeyman reliever Austin Adams, who was released by the Mets at the end of Spring Training, made sure to let his former club know how he felt about them after a key strikeout.

When Adams punched out catcher Francisco Alvarez to escape a jam in the fifth inning, he threw his arms in the air three times, mocking the Mets' signature home run celebration, inspired by Mets infielder Jose Iglesias' song, "OMG."

"Listen, when you get DFA’d, you’re told you’re not good enough to play for a team anymore, it sucks. So, yeah, a little extra juice today,” Adams said, per Will Sammon of The Athletic.

Adams added that the celebration was "organic" and not intended as an insult.

I was so surprised that I got out of it, I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh!’ And then it dawned on me: Oh, my gosh. And then so I did it. But that song is sick. Iglesias is a good dude. Hopefully, no one is offended," Adams said.

Regardless of whether or not anyone in the Mets' clubhouse took offense to the specific gesture, New York needs to come up with a swift response on the field. They now trail the rival Atlanta Braves by 2.5 games for the final Wild Card spot in the National League.

Lefty David Peterson will take the mound for New York in Wednesday night's contest, the second of three against Oakland. First pitch is at 7:10 p.m.

More MLB: Mets could lose surprising ace pitcher to free agency, per insider