Michael Conforto had trouble sleeping on Wednesday night, or so he told SNY before Thursday’s game against the Miami Marlins. In his mind was the constant reminder that the next game could be his last as a home player at Citi Field. He did not respond like a tired player as Conforto had three hits and two RBIs in the Mets final home game of the 2021 season, a 12-3 victory. With the win, the Mets finished their 2021 home slate with a record of 47-34. Respectable, by any standard, regretful in that it was a paired with a road record that currently sits 20 games below .500 at 29-49.

Rich Hill, the 41-year old lefty, was given a chance by Luis Rojas to get the requisite five innings for a win and he did just that, garnering his only victory as a Met. He finished with his season with a 3.84 ERA with 158 2/3 innings pitched, the most he has tossed since 2007. When he retired the side in the fifth, he let out a primal scream to signify his delight.

With the end of the home season, New York is left with three games at Truist Park against the Atlanta Braves. The Braves should be feeling no pain as they clinched their fourth straight NL East title by beating the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-3, on Thursday. Friday and Saturday’s game will begin at 7:20 PM while the season finale will take place at 3:30 PM on Sunday.

The Mets drew 1,511,926 patrons to Citi Field in 2021, the lowest since the post-1995 strike shortened season. The pandemic certainly is a major player in any attendance figures, and one can only hope that with the planned off-season changes and hopeful abatement of Covid-19, the Mets will draw at least two million.

The Mets and Marlins played a fairly close game for the most part, but was blown open in the eighth as Francisco Lindor blasted his 20th home run of the year and Pete Alonso hit his 37th and second of the game. Lindor’s ‘two-iron’ to right field (as Keith called it) was a grand slam, his second of the year.

Alonso opened the scoring in the second with a solo homer off of Marlin’s starter Edward Cabrera. A long bomb by Miami’s Lewis Brinson (his ninth) briefly gave the Fish the lead in the third before the Mets tied things up again on a RBI single by Conforto. With the score knotted at two, Miami grabbed the lead back in the fourth on a scoring single by Magneuris Sierra.

The Mets put up a four-spot in the fourth to give them a 6-3 lead. RBI hits by Jonathan Villar, James McCann and Conforto solidified the lead as the Mets lead 6-3.

The Mets made it a laugher with the pyrotechnics from Lindor and Alonso in the eighth to put the Mets ahead by three field goals.

But the bow on this one came in the top of the ninth:

Player of the Game: Michael Conforto

Conforto had just laced his third hit of the night, when the Mets’ booth suggested he be pinch hit for so the fans could acknowledge their 2015 first round pick. But Hollywood intervened in the top of the ninth as Michael made a beautiful shoestring catch. The SNY cameras followed him to the dugout after the last out was recorded and tears were clearly flowing. It is a certainty that his weren’t the only tears. Conforto will be a free agent at the end of the season and heaven only knows where he’ll end up. But he showed tonight his heart will always belong in NYC as a member of the New York Mets.

For those counting, the home opener for 2022 will be on March 31 against the Washington Nationals. I sure will be.