Mets' Francisco Lindor homers twice to beat Giants, end road trip on high note

SAN FRANCISCO — In an 8-2 win over the Giants on Wednesday, the Mets followed what may well be their 2024 blueprint.

They got a spark from a star, with Francisco Lindor providing a pair of two-run homers. They got a big boost from a role player, with Tyrone Taylor going 2-for-5 with a homer, a double, three RBIs and two runs scored. And they got an assist from an unexpected standout, with reliever Reed Garrett tossing two innings to collect his fourth win — tied for most in the majors.

Altogether, it salvaged the series for the Mets, who ended a three-game losing streak and headed back to New York with a 13-11 record about a month into the season.

“A win is a win,” Lindor said. “However, when . . . it’s something like that, where everybody is contributing, it definitely feels good because everybody feels a part of the win.”

The Giants (12-14) scratched lefthander Blake Snell, the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner, from his start hours before the game and put him on the injured list with a strained left adductor. Facing a series of relievers instead — a dynamic Brandon Nimmo compared to spring training, because they knew so little about some of them — the Mets took full advantage.

Lindor opened the Mets’ scoring by going deep off 6-foot-11 righthander Sean Hjelle in the third. He closed it with a blast off regular-sixed righthander Mitch White in the ninth.

That doubled Lindor’s season home run total.

“That man is a dawg,” Taylor said, complimentarily. “He rakes.”

Taylor took his turn in the fourth, when he added a solo shot. In the fifth, after second baseman Thairo Estrada failed to catch Pete Alonso’s line drive, extending an inning that should have been over, Taylor came through again: two-run double. He scored on Jeff McNeil’s single moments later.

Acquired from the Brewers to be a frequently used fourth outfielder, Taylor is batting .327 with an .868 OPS. His 13 RBIs are second on the team (behind Nimmo’s 15).

“Every day, someone else is having a huge impact,” Nimmo said. “It’s going to need to be that way for the rest of the season.”

Staked to an early and growing lead, lefthander Sean Manaea labored through 4 2/3 scoreless innings, walking four batters and allowing four hits.

He had two runners on base in the fifth when he crossed the 100-pitch threshold, triggering manager Carlos Mendoza’s call for Garrett. Garrett induced a flyout from cleanup hitter Jorge Soler to end the threat and put the game back in cruise control.

“It might’ve been one of the best worst games I’ve ever had in my life,” he said. “Falling behind guys, walking guys, but also getting outs when I needed to. I got a few strikeouts. Just overall it was not a great day. But also it was [scoreless] at the end of the day. I don’t know. It was a very weird outing.”

Garrett is tied with the Dodgers’ Tyler Glasnow, Phillies’ Ranger Suarez and Blue Jays’ Jose Berrios for most wins in the majors — a fluky feat for a bullpen arm at this time of year, but nonetheless a testament to how important Garrett has been.

Nobody else on the Mets has more than two wins.

Tyler Fitzgerald’s home run off Garrett to lead off the seventh was the first earned run he has allowed on the season. He had maintained a 0.00 ERA across 12 innings (seven appearances), striking out more than half of his batters faced — 23 of 45 — in that stretch.

“He comes in, throws strikes and he’s got that ability to strike people out [and] give you multiple innings,” Mendoza said. “To have a piece like that out of the ‘pen is huge.”

By Tim Healey

timothy.healey@newsday.com@timbhealey

Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.