NEW YORK – After a rain delay of an hour and 10 minutes, the Mets’ offense was stagnant during the first five innings of Saturday’s game against the Phillies at Citi Field.
Then came the sixth inning.
The Mets came back to life, scoring four runs, and that proved to be the difference in a 6-2 victory. The win was a first for interim manager Andy Green, who took over the reins on Friday from Carlos Mendoza and broke New York’s seven-game losing streak.
“Wins are fun, but it’s not about me. It’s about the team, and winning as a group is fun,” Green said. “Playing whatever part you play in that, it’s fun. I think the guys did a lot of good things today. It was a cool team win where you can talk about a bunch of different guys. Those are fun games.”
This season, it has been a rare occurrence when Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto are in the lineup together. Remember, both players had injuries that kept them out for at least two weeks. Lindor just came back this week after missing two months because of a calf injury.
In Saturday's game, however, it was a reminder how dangerous both players can be when they are healthy.
The Phillies were running a bullpen game and right-hander Alan Rangel was the bulk guy. He entered the game with one out in the second inning and was cruising with Philly leading, 2-0. At one point, Rangel retired 11 of 12 hitters he faced.
“Rangel has a unique look. We don’t have a ton of exposure to him, and that’s not an excuse for not getting hits,” Green said. “It’s just the reality of getting comfortable with a guy who has a very unique slot. Our guys took a little bit of time getting acclimated to what they were seeing. When they did, they made adjustments.”
The adjustments came in the sixth. With one out and runners on first and second, Lindor tied the score at 2 when he tripled down the right-field line, scoring Soto and Bo Bichette.
After walking Jared Young to put runners on first and third, Rangel was taken out of the game in favor of right-hander Jonathan Bowlan, who walked Mark Vientos to load the bases. In stepped A.J. Ewing, who singled up the middle to score Lindor and Young.
“It was fantastic. It was great to see quality at-bats from the start of the lineup all the way until the end. It was really good,” Lindor said. “Man, the older I get, the more triples I get. I don’t like it. I want more doubles. [Just kidding], the triple felt good. The trainer did a good job in prepping me and getting ready for this. I feel good. I’m in a good spot."
New York added to the scoring an inning later when Soto tripled to right-center field, sending Carson Benge home.
“Even when Soto and I weren’t together, he was still elite,” Lindor reminded the local media. “I said [president of baseball operations David] Stearns put a good team together. We just haven’t been together. Now that we are slowly getting healthy … we can make something special.”
The Mets’ bullpen pitched 4 2/3 innings of shutout ball, with Devin Williams shutting the door in the ninth.
“Obviously, the pitching was really good. For me, what A.J. Minter did was pretty special today. He went through the heart of the lineup in an inning-plus. I think there were a lot of things to like about today’s game,” Green said.