Walk-off balk: How Mets' chaotic trade deadline day ended in unbelievable fashion

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — On a trade deadline day with plenty of twists and turns for the Mets, the ending to Tuesday night's game against the Royals was appropriately wacky.

After blowing a two-run lead in the 10th inning, Mets left-handed reliever Josh Walker came on and looked to force another inning in a tie game with the bases loaded and two outs. But Walker forgot to pick up the PitchCom and as he struggled to relay that he was missing the device to Francisco Alvarez, the lefty reliever's knee buckled off the rubber.

Home-plate umpire Ryan Blakney called a balk to plate the winning run as the Mets dropped a bizarre 7-6 loss to the Royals in front of 16,140 fans at Kauffman Stadium.

"I just was up there, I didn't have a PitchCom in my ear, so me and (Francisco Alvarez) didn't have communication," Walker said. "Basically, I was trying to relay that to him and then I went to step off and my foot was kind of in the footprint where the guy's been throwing and I think my knee buckled a little bit before I stepped off and that was what they got me."

Walker said he got lost in the moment and trying to think about attack the hitter. The Mets had been positioned to grab the win after Alvarez broke open a 4-4 tie with a two-run home run.

But Buck Showalter was forced to use three separate relievers in the 10th inning. With the designated runner on second base, Brooks Raley gave up back-to-back RBI hits to Bobby Witt Jr. and MJ Melendez. After registering the first out, Grant Hartwig came on, picked up a strikeout but the bases were loaded after Brett Baty threw wide of first base and Drew Waters drew a walk.

Walker came in to face Royals pinch hitter Michael Massey but balked before he could throw a pitch.

"Technically, it's a balk. You don't want it called if you're in the other dugout," Showalter said. "You always feel bad when games are not decided by the players. Of course, you could say they were because he balked, but very technical. You've got to step off there and he didn't."

The Mets slipped to 30-36 on the season with the loss.

A topsy-turvy day for the Mets included trades that sent Justin Verlander to the Astros, Tommy Pham to the Diamondbacks and Dominic Leone to the Angels. The Mets received Astros top prospect, outfielder Drew Gilmore, along with the team's No. 4 prospect, Ryan Clifford, in the blockbuster deal for Verlander.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NY Mets lose on a walk-off balk by reliever Josh Walker to Royals