As he returned to the dugout following his fourth at-bat on Tuesday afternoon, Michael Conforto slammed his bat to the ground with both hands, raised it back up again, then jammed it into the bat rack in one of the most overt shows of frustration of his career. Conforto ripped his helmet off his head and fired that down as well. Then he ran his hand through his hair as he looked for answers in the sky, a scowl running across his face.
So uncharacteristic of the typically even-keeled Conforto, the actions were jarring. Eventually, manager Luis Rojas and bench coach Dave Jauss approached Conforto to tell him he was “going to get another big one.”
“And I ended up getting another big one,” Conforto said.
Two, actually. After setting the winning play in motion with a game-tying RBI single in the first game of a makeshift doubleheader at Citi Field, giving the Mets a walk-off victory, Conforto blasted a two-run, second-deck home run to lead them to a 3-1 win over the Marlins on Tuesday night. All told, Conforto reached base four times on the day despite going hitless in his first four at-bats.
Javier Báez, who raced from first to home on Conforto’s hit and an error in Game 1, repeated the trick on a Jeff McNeil double for the Mets’ third run in Game 2.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].