Associated Press
SEATTLE — Michael Conforto returned to his hometown and hit a pair of solo home runs, Neil Walker and Curtis Granderson had two-out RBI singles in the eighth inning and the New York Mets rallied for a 7-5 win over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night after wasting a four-run lead.
Playing his first professional game at Safeco Field, Conforto excited the 30 or so friends and family he left tickets for with the fourth multi-homer game of his big-league career. Conforto, who grew up in nearby Redmond, homered leading off the third inning against Ariel Miranda.
He connected again in the eighth against lefty reliever Marc Rzepczynski, lining the second pitch of the inning just over the wall in right for his 21st homer. It was the first home run allowed to a lefty this season by Rzepczynski.
The Mets kept the rally going, helped when Wilmer Flores beat out a potential inning-ending double play. Walker and Granderson followed with consecutive RBI singles off David Phelps (2-5) to cap the three-run burst.
Jay Bruce hit his 27th home run in the first inning, a two-run shot on an 0-2 pitch, as the Mets built a 4-0 lead. New York rebounded to win for just the third time this season when trailing after seven innings.
Jerry Blevins (5-0) worked 1 1⁄3 innings for the win. Paul Sewald squeezed through the eighth despite allowing the first two batters to reach thanks to a strikeout of Mike Zunino and a groundout from Jean Segura with runners at second and third. Addison Reed pitched the ninth for his 19th save.
Conforto had plenty of attention on his return to the Pacific Northwest. He’d played one time in a high school showcase at Safeco Field and joked during pregame that the stadium seemed a lot larger as a teenager.
Zunino’s 16th home run and Kyle Seager’s two-run single were part of a four-run fifth inning that put Seattle ahead 5-4.
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