PHILADELPHIA — Michael Conforto started in center field and was inserted into the leadoff spot as Collins gave Curtis Granderson a night off.
It paid off big time for the Mets as Conforto went 2-for-4 with a solo homer and three runs scored in the Mets’ 5-4 win over the Phillies on Wednesday night at Citizen Bank Park.
“I wanted to get Michael in there, otherwise he’s going to have four or five days without getting many at-bats,” Collins said. “Going into a big ballpark [in Miami] we wanted to give [Granderson] a day off, and he said he would take it.”
Collins said he used Conforto in the leadoff spot — where Granderson would have hit if he started — because he didn’t want to disrupt a lineup that had scored 14 runs the previous night.