NEW YORK -- Following an 11-inning win over the Pirates on Saturday evening, the Mets seemed primed for additional dramatics less than 24 hours later. Yes, Pittsburgh had taken another extra-inning lead. But the Mets were already rallying in the bottom of the 10th at Citi Field, putting two men on base with no outs for Juan Soto.
Unsurprisingly, Soto responded with a double to the warning track, easily plating one run. That’s when Mets third-base coach Tim Leiper waved around Francisco Lindor as well, despite the fact that the relay throw was nearly in shortstop Jared Triolo’s glove as Lindor crossed third base. Triolo’s throw beat him home by several feet, giving catcher Henry Davis enough time to grab it and plant a tag directly on Lindor’s face.
Lindor was not only out at the plate but noticeably shaken up from the tag. He escaped without an actual injury, however, which was the good news for the Mets.
The bad news was that the play squelched a 10th-inning rally for the Mets, who went quietly after that in a 4-3 loss to the Pirates.
“We have talked about being aggressive,” Lindor said. “As soon as the ball was hit, I felt like my mindset was, ‘I was going to score.’ I think I would have scored. I took a little bad of a route. But I’m on board with Leip sending me there, because we have talked about being aggressive. He made the right call.”
Manager Carlos Mendoza also defended the send, saying the Mets had targeted the Pirates in their pre-series meeting as a team they wanted to be aggressive against. Yet Pittsburgh center fielder Oneil Cruz, who fielded the ball, possesses one of the strongest throwing arms in baseball. (Last year, Statcast clocked him as high as 104.9 mph from the outfield.) Triolo’s arm may not be quite that strong, but if the Mets had chosen not to send Lindor, they’d have had two men in scoring position with no outs in a one-run game.
“They executed,” Mendoza said. “You’ve got to give them credit. They executed.”
The play at the plate upended what would have been an encouraging season-opening sweep for the Mets, who instead settled for two out of three against the Pirates. For Lindor, who went 0-for-7 in the first two games of the series, it was also a bit of a breakout. He hit a deep triple and scored a run in the fifth inning, then singled in the seventh before walking to set up New York’s rally in the 10th.
Sliding into third base on his triple, Lindor said he felt a bit of discomfort in his left hand, which he had surgically repaired on Feb. 11, but that it was to be expected. Whatever he felt subsided immediately, lingering even less than what he experienced on the play at the plate.
“I feel good -- as good as I’m going to be,” Lindor said. “That hit hard.”