The focus for the Mets was the three outs in the top of the ninth, not scratching across a few more runs in the bottom of the eighth. But Payton swung for the fences at that pitch, diving across the plate at a change-up on the outside corner. He was going for more, trying to rub it in the Cardinals' faces. Even if he wasn't trying to do that, he made it look like he was. And that is wrong.
Baseball is a humbling game.
You don't show players up. The game does it on its own. You have to take your disappointments like a man and remember that there is always tomorrow. Payton was too aggressive in that swing. The Cardinals had been humbled already.