Francisco Lindor picks up three hits, leads Mets over Giants
Francisco Lindor of the New York Mets hits a solo home run in the top of the third inning against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on Friday. Credit: Getty Images
SAN FRANCISCO — Hours before the Mets’ 8-1 win over the Giants at Oracle Park on Friday night, president of baseball operations David Stearns said that while he will explore all options ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline, he is comfortable with the state of his lineup.
It’s the sort of thing that might cause concern among fans. Statistically, the Mets’ offense has been mediocre and prone to troubling cold streaks. But the last two games are starting to (slowly) give credence to Stearns’ stance.
Francisco Lindor, who broke out of an 0-for-31 slump Wednesday, homered and went 3-for-5 with two RBIs as the Mets kicked off a six-game West Coast road trip with their sixth win in a row. Brandon Nimmo’s two-run single capped a pivotal three-run fourth and Juan Soto went 2-for-5 with two RBIs.
“I thought the situational hitting overall as a team, we did a good job,” Carlos Mendoza said. “I thought we just didn’t miss. We got [Logan Webb] up in the zone and we didn’t miss pitches.”
“It was a great team win,” Lindor said. “I’ve got rhythm. I feel good. I feel like I did what I wanted to do today. I had a game plan and was able to execute it, so that means my swing is in a good spot. Stay the course and continue to be better every day.”
The Mets nicked up Webb early as Nimmo led off the game with a double to right-center and Lindor singled. Lindor stole second and Soto grounded out to make it 1-0. Lindor scored on Pete Alonso’s sacrifice fly.
“I think we were able to capitalize on mistakes in the zone but not try to do too much with it,” Nimmo said. “I think it was just clutch hitting.”
Heliot Ramos singled and Rafael Devers doubled off Clay Holmes in the bottom of the inning. Willy Adames hit a grounder to third that could have led to the forceout at home, but Ronny Mauricio double-clutched the ball and was forced to get the out at first, making it 2-1.
In the third, Lindor blasted a 92.1-mph fastball in on the hands 377 feet to right for his 20th homer and first since July 11.
Brett Baty and Francisco Alvarez led off the fourth with singles and Mauricio walked to load the bases before Tyrone Taylor hit into a run-scoring forceout. After he stole second, Nimmo’s bloop single to left drove in two runs and gave the Mets a 6-1 lead.
Lindor had a two-out RBI double and scored on Soto’s bloop single to center in the ninth.
Holmes allowed one run, six hits and a walk in five innings, marking the eighth straight start in which he hasn’t been able to finish six innings — an issue for a starting rotation plagued by short outings and one Stearns will continue to monitor as he looks for additional bullpen help at the deadline (he traded for Orioles lefty Gregory Soto and is on the hunt for more). Holmes threw 104 pitches, 64 for strikes.
As far as the offense is concerned, “I don’t think we need to” add another bat, Stearns said. “I think we have the offensive players that can help us score a lot of runs and who can help turn the lineup over . . . We’re taking pretty good at-bats and by and large, I’m growing increasingly comfortable with the length of our lineup and the contributions we’re getting from the bottom half of the lineup. That being said, we have to figure out a way to score more runs.”
Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.
