The Mets’ ninth inning comeback began in thrilling fashion with a game-tying hom run by Jeff McNeil, but ended in controversy.
With the game tied and the bases loaded, Michael Conforto fell behind before taking what was initially called a third strike on the inside corner, but immediately after the third strike call, home plate umpire Ron Kulpa signaled that the pitch had hit Conforto on the elbow, forcing in the winning run.
The Marlins and manager Don Mattingly furiously argued the call, which was not reviewable, and upon further review, it appeared Conforto slightly stuck is elbow into the strike zone, causing the pitch to graze his elbow guard and give the Mets a win.
Did Conforto intentionally lean into the pitch? He unsurprisingly made no such confession after the game.
"Well, obviously not the way I wanted to win the ball game,” Conforto said. “I wanted to go up there and put the ball in play and drive a ball somewhere, from my point of view it was a slider. Felt like it was coming back to me, you know I turned, there may have been a little lift to my elbow just out of habit, out of reaction, and it barely skinned the edge of my elbow guard. And I did see that he rung me up, I think that's why you didn't see a reaction from me right away, I didn't know what was going to happen after that moment.”
The umpires convened while Mattingly and the Marlins pleaded their case, and the Mets mobbed Conforto, who wasn’t surprised at the reaction from the opposing dugout given how the game ended.
“I knew there was going to see some controversy,” Conforto said. “Our first base coach was yelling at me to get down there and touch the base and let's get out of here. Like I said, a win's a win, it's over, but obviously I'd like to use the bat next time, for sure."
Mattingly believes the initial call was the right one, but once Kulpa made the hit by pitch ruling and awarded Conforto first base, the play couldn’t be reviewed, and the controversial ending was set.
“I really think he knows it was a strike,” Mattingly said. “And there was nothing, he couldn’t go backwards in his mind. Honestly, he’s probably feeling bad. To be honest, I bet he feels awful. They don’t want to end like that on a strike. But it’s probably too late.”
As for the Mets, they’ll take the win any way they could after trailing in the ninth and losing two of their first three games to start the season.
“Definitely interesting,” Luis Rojas said of the bizarre conclusion. “I’ve never seen that, when it gets revered. I saw the strike call and the hit by pitch call…I looked at the replay…I don’t think he leaned. That’s not his instinct. That’s kind of how he moves his hands. Even in batting practice that’s how he moves his hands on pitches in…but we’ll take that call and the walk-off.”
To Kulpa's credit, he did tell Newsday's Anthony Rieber, the designated pool reporter allowed to speak to the umpires, that he made a mistake.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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