Francisco Lindor was the Mets ’hero in his 11-9 victory in Saturday’s opening double game against the Nationals, and Javier Baez also contributed offensively. The two were kept out of the lineup in the 4-3 loss of the night fall, according to a play manager Luis Rojas said it was a precaution with his injury history.
“The guys have been playing a lot and playing the nine innings there and we have to be careful,” Rojas said between matches. “Our next day off is not yet on the horizon. We need to make sure the boys are cool and can come back tomorrow and play.”
It wasn’t until a final effort at the top of the seventh nightmare, when the Mets got behind 4-3, that Lindor and Baez played. In place of Luis Guillorme, Lindor was left off the ground, while Baez left out starting pitcher Tylor Megill.
In addition to losing Brandon Nimmo to a hamstring injury in the second inning of the first game, the Mets formation battled for a four-hit performance in the second game.
“It’s hard, you want these guys every game,” Rojas said. “Entering this double header and all the tickets we played in that first moment [game], there was a good chance at some point that we had to get the boys to play both games. But you don’t want things like this to happen to Nimmo. “
Lindor saved the Mets from the embarrassment of giving a 9-0 lead at the opening with a two-run day in extra innings to extend Amazin’s streak of wins to seven games.
Leading the ninth inning with two hits and two RBIs the same day, Lindor threw a 93.7 mph sinker from Nationals pitcher Kyle Finnegan to the second deck of Nationals Park to finally secure the first game victory. Albert Almora Jr., who replaced Nimmo in the lineup, scored after starting entry in second place as a ghost runner.
Lindor finished Saturday morning 3-on-4 with two runs and four RBIs, including a sacrifice fly to the warning run at the second-inning of four Mets blocks to score Jonathan Villar for the 6- win. 0. Lindor made a pitching error in the sixth, when the Nationals narrowed the gap to two runs.
“[It was a] a long, but very, very rewarding one, “Lindor said after the first game win.” A lot of the guys had a lot of success, which always makes it fun. A little frustrated with my mistake that led to the principles [of the Nationals’ rally]. First I’m an advocate and I didn’t like it.
“Thank God with the group of guys we have, they picked us up, picked me up and gave us a chance to win.”
It’s been an intense week for Lindor, who signed a $ 341 million ten-year overtime with the Mets in April after being traded to the Indians in January. Recently, the 27-year-old shutdown had to apologize, along with Javier Baez, for a “thumbs down” gesture intended to be an excavation to fans, which owner Steve Cohen publicly condemned as “unacceptable.”
Lindor, four-time All-Star, has dropped heavily in his first season at Flushing. In 98 games with the Mets, he has posted a .224 batting average with a low run with a base percentage of .313 and 12 homers, just four more than he achieved during the 2020 season with Cleveland, shrinking from the pandemic.