The Mets won their home opener Thursday on a controversial walk-off hit by pitch, as home plate umpire Ron Kulpa was about to ring up Michael Conforto before deciding that the final pitch of the game hit Conforto on the elbow guard and awarded him the game-winning HBP.
Marlins manager Don Mattingly argued the call, which was reviewed and upheld, and Mets manager Luis Rojas as well as Conforto were of course asked about it. So was Kulpa, who admitted he made a mistake.
“The guy was hit by a pitch in the strike zone. I should have called him out,” Kulpa told the pool reporter, Newsday’s Anthony Rieber, after the game. “It’s one of those plays. We looked at the video afterward and it’s one of those plays where it looked like the guy was hit…he was hit by a pitch in the strike zone.”
Kulpa admitted that per MLB’s review protocols, the play was reviewed solely to determine if Conforto had been hit by the pitch, and not if he had intentionally leaned in to do so – which is not reviewable per the league.
Mattingly, in his postgame presser, said that he thought Kulpa must “feel awful” about the mistake, but Kulpa would not admit any remorse, only the mistake.
“I mean, that’s the way it went down, and there’s nothing more than that.”
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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