via SNY on Twitter
- The Mets beat the Marlins after a player was hit by a pitch that was at first called strike three.
- Replay showed that the player, Michael Conforto, had leaned into the pitch with his elbow.
- Umpires ruled that the pitch hit Conforto, delivering the Mets a strange walk-off win.
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The New York Mets beat the Miami Marlins 3-2 in a strange walk-off win on Thursday, after the team's right fielder got hit by a pitch on what would have been strike three.
Michael Conforto came up in the bottom of the ninth inning, with the game tied 2-2 and the bases loaded at Citi Field. He quickly fell behind in the count 0-2. And then, as an 84-mph slider came in over the plate, Conforto seemed to subtly lean into the pitch.
The home plate umpire at first gestured that the pitch was strike three, but then adjusted his call to indicate that Conforto had actually been hit by the ball. The resulting walk forced shortstop Luis Guillorme – who was on third base – in as the game-winning run.
-SNY (@SNYtv) April 8, 2021
Replay showed that Conforto made no effort to move out of the way of the pitch, and even seemed to interject his elbow deeper into the strike zone, into a position in which the pitch would be more likely to hit him.
SNY Mets broadcasters Gary Cohen and Ron Darling said on-air that Conforto "can't do that" and that the umpires "have to bring it back," referring to the hit-by-pitch call.
Marlins manager Don Mattingly also came onto the field to argue with umpires.
MLB rules state that if a player moves into a pitch in the strike zone, it doesn't count as a hit-by-pitch, and the batter doesn't get the walk. But according to the league's replay rules, there is no review available to determine whether a pitch was in the strike zone when it touched the batter, nor whether the batter made an attempt to avoid being touched by the ball.
So the umpires could not reverse the call, and the Mets took the victory.
"Obviously not the way I wanted to win the ball game," Conforto said in the post-game press conference. "I wanted to go up there and put the ball in play and drive a ball somewhere. A win's a win. It's over. But obviously I'd like to use the bat next time for sure."
The Mets had entered the ninth down 2-1, but a rally tied it up. When he came up to the plate, Conforto was 0-for-2 on the day and just 3-for-17 on the season to that point.
In his post-game comments, Conforto admitted that he expected the call to elicit backlash.
"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," Conforto said. "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, so I knew there was going to be some controversy."
The last team to win a game via a walk-off hit-by-pitch happened last season, when Cameron Maybin of The Chicago Cubs took a pitch to the shoulder from Cleveland pitcher Nick Wittgren. However, that pitch very clearly hit the body of the batter, rather than grace the pad of an elbow.