Francisco Lindor's sacrifice fly in ninth delivers Mets' walk-off win over White Sox
Francisco Lindor of the Mets celebrates his walk-ff sacrifice fly against the Chicago White Sox at Citi Field on Monday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
After (mostly) slaying the Goliath that is the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Mets walked into Citi Field on a sun-speckled Memorial Day on Monday afternoon riding high and ready for a three-game set against Major League Baseball’s professional punching bag, the Chicago White Sox.
The White Sox, losers of 121 games last season — an MLB modern record — don’t hit particularly well, doesn’t pitch particularly well and don’t have the likes of Shohei Ohtani or Freddie Freeman.
But what’s that saying again? Ah, yes: That’s why they play the games.
To be clear, the Mets did beat the White Sox, 2-1. But it was anything but easy.
After his club was blanked for six innings by former Met Adrian Houser, Juan Soto hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth to tie it and Francisco Lindor hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth to win it. It was the Mets’ fifth walk-off of the season and their third comeback in as many days. They have 13 comeback wins this year.
But even when things didn’t look all that pretty offensively, the Mets (33-21) managed to replicate what they did when they took two of three against the Dodgers this past weekend — execute the little things correctly and hope they add up to a W.
“It puts a smile on our face because it’s different ways of winning ballgames, and [Monday] was one of them,” Lindor said. “[Luisangel] Acuna going first to third [in the eighth], sac flies, playing good defense . . . It’s good [that] whenever it seems like it’s not clicking, things are clicking.”
A red-hot Tyrone Taylor led off the ninth by lacing a double to the wall in left-center. Chicago intentionally walked Jeff McNeil before Steven Wilson allowed a single by Luis Torrens that loaded the bases. Lindor proceeded to smack Wilson’s first-pitch sweeper to deep right, allowing Taylor to score standing up.
“The moment is never too big for him and he’s aggressive when he gets good pitches to hit,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He’s got conviction when he’s making those decisions, and that’s what great players do . . . We’ve got a few of them like that, too.
“You feel really good with your chances when they’re at the plate with the game on the line, and right away, [Lindor] didn’t waste any time. He was ready to go from first pitch and the game was over.”
Four Mets pitchers, keyed by starter Clay Holmes, allowed one run through eight innings. Holmes gave up the run and allowed four hits in 5 2⁄3 innings, striking out three and walking three.
Francisco Alvarez, who had two hits in his previous 27 at-bats, led off the eighth with a single off lefthander Cam Booser and was replaced by pinch runner Acuna. Two batters later, Brandon Nimmo singled off the end of his bat past a diving Miguel Vargas at first. Soto then hit a line drive straight at leftfielder Michael A. Taylor, whose throw was little match for Acuna’s speed.
Edwin Diaz allowed a two-out walk in the ninth before striking out Mike Tauchman swinging on a slider.
The White Sox (17-37) got their run in the fourth. Holmes walked Tauchman to lead off the inning, Vargas doubled him to third and Andrew Benintendi hit a fly ball to the warning track in left to give Chicago a 1-0 lead.
It could have been worse if not for a heads-up play by Lindor, who made a nice snag on Luis Robert Jr.’s ball in the hole at short and caught Vargas — who thought the ball was going to squeak through — in a rundown between second and third, resulting in a 6-5-4 fielder’s choice. Joshua Palacios then grounded out to end the inning.
Jose Butto entered with two outs in the sixth after Holmes loaded the bases and got Edgar Quero to ground out to end the threat.
Other than Nimmo’s one-out double in the first, Houser stymied his old team, who didn’t get another baserunner until Lindor’s two-out single in the sixth. Houser allowed no runs and three hits in six innings, striking out six and walking one.
“The biggest thing is that the effort is always there and I think it shows up in times like this,” Holmes said. “We just played three big series, a lot of night games, a lot of energy with those, and to be able to show up [Monday] with the effort that everybody did, with defense — the results weren’t there early, but just the effort and the way people were playing was impressive.
“I think when you constantly show up, you have that type of effort and preparation, there’s a belief and confidence that things will turn.”
Notes & quotes: Jose Siri (broken tibia) sprinted in the outfield before the game and is slated to face Sean Manaea (oblique) in a live bullpen session on Thursday, Mendoza said. This will be the first time that Siri, who has taken batting practice, will face live pitching. “He’s still in a straight line,” Mendoza said, “nothing side to side or anything like that.”
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
