The New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies made the ninth inning of Tuesday's 9-0 boat race more interesting than it should have been -- and not in a good way. Although the Mets had dominated the game, in part because of Zack Wheeler's strong performance on the mound, they chose to deliver a different kind of statement with two outs in the ninth. That's when Mets reliever Jacob Rhame threw two pitches over the head of Phillies slugger Rhys Hoskins.

Take a look at one of Rhame's offerings here:

As you can see, the benches cleared but no hands or feet were exchanged. Rhame, for his part, denied he was throwing at Hoskins:

It's never easy to ascribe intent in these situations, but there's some reason to think Rhame was throwing at Hoskins. For one, a pair of Mets had been plunked the night before. For another, Rhame hadn't displayed such putrid control during the rest of his outing, as pointed out by Hoskins in his postgame comments, according to NBC Sports Philadelphia: "He didn't miss up and in the rest of the inning, so I'll let you decide."

While most sane folk would object to throwing a baseball at anyone over a real or perceived slight, the Phillies for their part seemed annoyed more by where Rhame threw at rather than if he threw at Hoskins intentionally. As Bryce Harper said, quoting Leviticus, "But, I mean, if it's baseball and you're going to drill somebody, at least hit him in the ass."

It's a reasonable point concerning an unreasonable habit. Throwing at someone's tush is dumb and can still result in injury, but it's better than throwing at the noggin. And yes, big-league pitchers are impossibly skilled at locating their offerings -- but they still miss their spots with regularity; there's simply no excuse for ever throwing at or around the head.

That Rhame waited until what could have been the final batter of the game -- in a blowout, no less -- presumably did not sit well with the Phillies, either. As such, don't be surprised if the two sides continue to act childish come Wednesday's game at 7:10 p.m ET -- stream regionally via fuboTV (Try for free). Jason Vargas is supposed to face off against Vincent Velasquez, and someone (someones?) will probably get beaned, continuing this stupid cycle.