The New York Mets finally managed to win a game, but they lost Francisco Lindor in the process in this one.
The New York Mets finally broke their 12-game losing streak against the Minnesota Twins tonight, but the Mets also lost shortstop Francisco Lindor due to a calf injury as they welcomed back outfielder Juan Soto from an extended stint dealing with the same issue.
The Mets got on the board first in this one for the second straight game, as Bo Bichette was in the leadoff hole and got the rally started the rally with a double. Francisco Lindor followed with an infield hit to score Bichette and put the Mets up 1-0.
The Twins countered with a run of their own in the fourth inning off Mets starter Clay Holmes on a sacrifice fly by Victor Caratini, who drove home Trevor Larnach after Larnach doubled.
The Mets took the lead right back in the same inning on an RBI double by Francisco Alvarez, but the play also cost them the services of Lindor, who scored from first after hitting a single.
Lindor labored on the base paths, grimacing as he rounded third and then again when he slid to beat a tag at home, and he was subsequently removed with what was described as “left calf tightness.” Ironically, this was the same way Soto’s calf injury was initially described, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Lindor miss at least a couple of games.
The 2-1 lead didn’t last long, either. Byron Buxton duplicated his feat last night by hitting yet another solo home run in the sixth to knot the game at 2-2.
The Twins trotted out a pair of pitchers making their major-league debuts in this one, and the Mets are probably the perfect target for that sort of thing these days. Connor Prielipp and Kendry Rojas pitched four innings and two innings respectively, and Rojas contributed two shutout frames while Prielipp gave up the two Mets runs. Holmes was excellent for the Mets as he gave up just two runs in seven innings.
The Mets had multiple chances to score in the second half of this one, but they also added in a couple of atrocious base-running mistakes to the cause. They blew a chance to take the lead in the sixth inning on an atrocious error by Mark Vientos, who ran through a stop sign by third base coach Tim Leiper after a double by Marcus Semien and got thrown out at the plate by a wide margin.
Soto added insult to idiocy as he got picked off first after an eighth inning single, but the Mets managed to overcome his base running blunder to take the lead in that same inning. A pair of walks to Brett Baty and Francisco Alvarez put the lead run in scoring position, and a duck-snort single to right by Vientos redeemed him to give the Mets a 3-2 lead.
The big question after that was who would pitch the ninth after the recent disastrous outings by closer Devin Williams, and Luke Weaver got the nod after Weaver picked up Brooks Raley to get the last out of the eighth inning. Weaver was more than up to the task of closing and getting the win in this one out as he struck out the side, an effort that included getting Buxton swinging for the dramatic final out. The win was broke a string of five straight Mets losses in one-run games.
The larger question going forward is Lindor’s status, but at least the Mets got off the schneid tonight. The rubber game happens tomorrow as the Mets send Christian Scott to the mound against Joe Ryan for the Twins.