Francisco Lindor's tiebreaking homer in eighth lifts Mets
New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor (12) rounds the bases after hitting a home run against the Chicago Cubs during the eighth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, May 11, 2025, in New York. Credit: Noah K. Murray
“My Girl” took off an at-bat. But Francisco Lindor didn’t.
Lindor, who has been using a different walk-up song for some of his at-bats, crushed a tiebreaking home run leading off the eighth inning and the Mets went on to a 6-2 victory over the Cubs on Sunday before 41,673 at Citi Field.
“My Girl” by The Temptations has been Lindor’s walk-up song of choice since last May, and Citi Field fans have enjoyed singing along to the iconic tune during his at-bats.
But Lindor on Friday started alternating the song with “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. So when he came up in the eighth inning of a 2-2 game for his fourth at-bat, it was that song that accompanied Lindor to the plate.
The noise in the ballpark reached peak volume when Lindor turned on a 3-and-1 sweeper from righthander Porter Hodge and sent it 391 feet into the Mets’ bullpen.
Lindor flipped his pink Mother’s Day bat at home plate after his ninth home run, showing more emotion than he usually does. The Mets scored three more runs in the inning and took the rubber match of the three-game series.
Lindor said on Friday that he switched up his walk-up music routine because “of the vibes I’m in right now.”
But his vibes weren’t great after the Mets suffered a one-run loss to Chicago on Saturday night.
“Today I wanted to make sure I do something for the boys,” Lindor said. “I wasn’t trying to hit a home run. And then emotions just came out. I definitely had my mom in my mind, and my sisters. Had my wife in the stands. Definitely had them in my mind.”
Pete Alonso doubled one out later and scored on a single by Mark Vientos. Brandon Nimmo greeted righthander Gavin Hollowell with a two-run homer to make it 6-2. It was Nimmo’s eighth home run.
Luis Torrens gave the Mets a 1-0 lead with a two-out RBI triple off the left-centerfield wall in the second against lefthander Matthew Boyd.
Torrens left the game in the sixth after he was hit in the groin area with a foul tip while catching. He was down in the dirt for several minutes before finally getting up and slowly making his way to the dugout. He was replaced by Francisco Alvarez.
Was Torrens wearing a protective cup?
“Oh, for sure,” said manager Carlos Mendoza, who added that Torrens was feeling “better . . . I’m glad he was able to walk to the dugout.”
Former Mets prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong tied it with a solo homer off Griffin Canning in the sixth. Vientos gave the Mets the lead back with a two-out solo homer in the bottom half, his fifth home run of the season.
Vientos said he has homered four times in the last five Mother’s Days.
“That’s Mommy power,” he said. “Mommy power is real.”
The Cubs tied it at 2 in the seventh against Reed Garrett, who walked the first man he faced (Michael Busch) and then watched him score from second one out later on Nico Hoerner’s RBI double to left.
Canning allowed one run in six innings with two hits, one walk and five strikeouts. Boyd also went six and gave up two runs and six hits with no walks and eight strikeouts. The starters each struck out the side in the first inning.
Canning was pitching on his 29th birthday. It also was his mother’s birthday, and she was in the ballpark, having flown in from California.
Mommy power is real!
Baty hits, then sits. Mendoza decided to sit Brett Baty against the lefthanded Boyd even though Baty went 2-for-4 with two home runs on Saturday night. Baty, a lefthanded batter, is 0-for-5 with a walk vs. lefties in 2025 and is a .167 hitter against them in his career.
Boyd held lefties to a .143 batting average last season, but lefties have hit him at a .317 clip (13-for-41) in 2025, including Sunday.
“It’s a good problem to have, especially when you have a young player performing the way he is, and he will continue to get opportunities,” Mendoza said. “But I just thought it’s not so much about Brett today. It’s more about keeping [in] the other guys, especially the righties, against Boyd, and I went with it.”
Anthony Rieber covers sports media and business and professional sports (you know, games and trades and things). He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since Jan. 1, 2026.
