Michael Conforto of the Mets celebrates his ninth inning walk...

Michael Conforto of the Mets celebrates his ninth inning walk off walk against the Miami Marlins with teammate Brandon Nimmo #9 and Francisco Lindor #12 at Citi Field on Thursday, Apr. 8, 2021. Credit: Jim McIsaac

When the Mets needed it most, Michael Conforto provided a shot in the arm.

He nudged his right elbow out over the plate, just far enough for a slider from Marlins closer Anthony Bass to skim his elbow guard, resulting in a walk-off hit by pitch and a controversial 3-2 win for the Mets in their home opener Thursday.

The pitch caught enough of the plate that plate umpire Ron Kulpa initially started to signal strike three. Then he changed his mind and told Conforto to take his base, sending the Mets into a celebratory frenzy — and the Marlins into a furious one.

Kulpa later admitted that he got the call wrong. Because the baseball was over the plate, it should have been ruled a strike, even though it did physically touch Conforto — a long-standing MLB rule that is rarely enforced.

"The guy was hit by the pitch in the strike zone," Kulpa told a pool reporter. "I should have called him out."

Conforto said, more than once: "A win’s a win."

Or as Jeff McNeil, who hit a tying home run moments earlier, put it: "We caught a little break."

 

And manager Luis Rojas: "It’s an interesting call for sure."

Had Kulpa applied the rule correctly, the Mets (2-2) would have had the bases loaded with two outs and Pete Alonso stepping to the plate with a chance to end it.

Instead, umpires reviewed the sequence — though only to confirm that the ball indeed hit Conforto. After conferring with each other, they said the call stood, allowing the Mets to finish leaving the field while the Marlins (1-6) pleaded their case.

Conforto, who is hitting .176 and has left 16 runners on base in four games, said he did not stick his arm out on purpose.

Michael Conforto #30 of the Mets celebrates after being hit...

Michael Conforto #30 of the Mets celebrates after being hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Miami Marlins at Citi Field on April 8, 2021. Credit: Getty Images/Mike Stobe

"Obviously, not the way that I wanted to win the ballgame," he said. "From my point of view, it was a slider, felt like it was coming back to me. I turned and there may have been a little lift of my elbow, just out of habit, out of reaction, and it barely skimmed the edge of my elbow guard.

"Didn’t realize until after watching the replay that the ball was so close, that my elbow was so far out there. I didn’t realize that . . . At two strikes, I just went into battle mode, and I tend to lean over the plate when I get into battle mode."

In the moment, Conforto wasn’t sure what to do.

"I did see that he rung me up," he said. "I think that’s why you didn’t see a reaction from me right away. I didn’t know that was going to happen after that moment. I knew there was going to be some controversy."

Marlins manager Don Mattingly said of Kulpa: "I bet he feels awful. Because they don’t want to [blow an important call], either."

The late controversy overshadowed McNeil’s dramatics. The Mets were down by one in the ninth — with 10 of their past 11 batters retired — when he launched his first hit of the year into the upper deck in rightfield.

He knew he got it, too. As he turned to the Mets’ dugout — his back to the pitcher — he flipped his bat and skipped toward first base.

"It’s definitely one of my biggest moments as a Met right there," said McNeil, who noted that it was the first time he ever flipped a bat in celebration. "Just to hear the crowd again was pretty incredible."

The roar at the crack of McNeil’s bat was perhaps the loudest moment of the day for the 8,011 fans in attendance, their first time at a Citi Field game since the end of the 2019 season. The Mets called it a sellout, though the announced total was several hundred fans short of the previously stated limited capacity (8,492).

The presence of fans was part of an all-around picturesque day at the ballpark for the Mets. Taijuan Walker allowed two runs in six innings in his team debut. Bunting hung from the upper deck. Francisco Lindor, moments before his first home game with his new team, and Alonso received the loudest cheers during pregame introductions. Even the weather cooperated, offering 60s-and-sunny conditions for what amounted to a mid-pandemic celebration of steps toward normalcy.

All that was missing for most of the day was a Mets lead. McNeil and Conforto — and Kulpa — handled that.

"It was tough for me to celebrate, especially I wanted to drive the runs in," Conforto said. "But we got the win. I got the job done. That game’s over."

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