Conforto gets hit by the pitch on purpose to win the game, a breakdown
What Happened
On April 8, 2021, the Mets trailed the Marlins 2-1 with three outs left when Jeff McNeil tied it with a solo shot into the upper deck in the bottom of the ninth. Singles by Luis Guillorme and Brandon Nimmo set up runners on second and third, and Miami intentionally walked Francisco Lindor to load the bases for a slumping Michael Conforto. Conforto worked the count, then leaned his elbow pad into a 3-2 pitch that was inside the zone. Home plate ump Ron Kulpa first rang up strike three, then reversed himself and called it a hit by pitch, walking in the winning run.
Why This Matters
The rulebook is blunt here: a batter has to make an attempt to avoid the pitch, and Conforto did the opposite. He dropped his elbow right into it. That part is judgment, and judgment calls like batter intent aren't reviewable, which is why Marlins manager Don Mattingly's replay challenge went nowhere. New York got a walk-off hit by pitch on what looked like strike three, one of the weirdest game-enders you'll see. For Conforto it was a strange break in a cold start to a contract year, and he'd end up leaving in free agency after 2021. The cherry: pitcher Trevor May and Marlins infielder Miguel Rojas both hosted shows on Jomboy's network, so both dugouts got to argue it on tape.
At 1.5M views it ranks #175 of 1,583 Jomboy breakdowns, putting this one in the top 11% of the entire catalog.
Key Moments
Who / What Is Involved
Players: Michael Conforto. Teams: Mets.
Key Terms Mentioned
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentwe just had a wild finish to this mets
and marlins game it's two to one
mets are losing three more outs and the
game is over mcneil goes
i think i'll just hit an absolute bomb
home run
tie this up real quick 3-1 fastball
into the upper deck to tie the game in
the bottom of the ninth whew
those guys brutally missed that high
five let's go
he's got the ball look at that tosses
his bat
hops down the first baseline gotta love
it
then my dude girme he gets on little
infield hit
beats it out nice play by birdie bounce
the throw but he's on first then they
shift
all the way over for nimmo thinking he's
gonna pull the ball so he just slaps it
the other way
now the mets are gonna have runners on
second and third one out so they
intentionally walk Lindor he looks at
the dugout says let's go
let's get it and conforto comes up who's
been struggling
they wanted this match up he attacks him
in the zone conforto immediately goes
down o2
he battles that fouls it off battles
that fouls it off he's gonna take this
ball high
and now here's where things get very fun
and interesting
it's a strike in the zone the ump rings
them up oh wait
he says oh no that's a hit by pitch
which would mean an
rbi hit by pitch i really run batted in
but look at this
and i mean never one of the more clear
cut he leaned into the pitch
i've ever seen the rule doesn't say you
can't lean
into the pitch the rule says you have to
try to avoid getting hit
so that says about as
brutal as you can do that because he did
not try to avoid getting hit he tried to
get hit
umpire ron culpa famous for saying the
words i can do whatever i want
starts to ring him up then says oh no oh
no oh no probably heard
both sounds off the elbow pad Lindor's
gonna make out with him dumb smith's
gonna get him wet the mets are
celebrating
it's kind of an awkward celebration
Donnie baseball's like hold up
hold up hold up this game can't be over
culpa i'm guessing is saying here like
do you want me to review if he got hit
by a pitch i can't review
if he did it intentionally but i can
review if he hit him and maddling is
like just go review everything
and then they review it and they say yup
play stands and it's not that
they re madding's like what and it's not
that they
reviewed it and said no he didn't
intentionally get hit that
per rule is not a reviewable play and
you can see
my dude maggie rojas right here saying
like you can review that and culpa says
i can't repeat why not and then culpa
just says i don't know it's not my fault
and
rojas the gentleman and he says okay all
right i'll leave you alone and he walks
away
then Donnie baseball comes up the roast
and he goes could you see he goes yeah i
could see with my eye
saw the whole thing clear his day
he leaned into the pitch wild finish so
it's a walk off
hit by pitch for the mets on
a strike three pitch walk off hit by
pitch on strike three
the cool thing is that trevor mays on
the mets Miguel Rojas is on the marlins
both those guys have a podcast on the
john boy media network the chris rose
rotation
so we're going to hear about this from
both sides make sure you get ready to
tune into that because i
am very interested to hear what rojas we
saw in this video and trevor may your
pitch in this game have to say about
this