Mets rookie outfielder Michael Conforto broke a scoreless tie leading off the bottom of the third inning, crushing a Chris Young offering into the upper deck down the right field line at Citi Field for a solo home run. The Mets weren’t done there, though.
Wilmer Flores singled, advanced to second on a wild pitch, then moved to third when starter Steven Matz expertly laid down a sacrifice bunt. Curtis Granderson then lifted a sacrifice fly to right field that was shallow enough to give right fielder Alex Rios a chance to throw out Flores at the plate. However, Rios ostensibly forgot how many outs in the inning there were, as he casually camped under the ball, then awkwardly threw home as Flores scored safely. Royals manager Ned Yost requested a replay review to check whether or not Flores left the third base bag early, but the initial ruling was upheld — there was not indisputable evidence to overturn the call — as the Mets’ lead was officially extended to 2-0.
Young had tossed two perfect innings before the Mets jumped on him in the third.
Matz has held the Royals scoreless on two hits and no walks with three strikeouts in three innings of work thus far. He’s thrown 47 pitches, about halfway to his 95-pitch count set by manager Terry Collins. Bartolo Colon is expected to take over once Matz hits his limit.
