Francisco Lindor, Mets beat Blue Jays after being held hitless until ninth inning
Francisco Lindor of the Mets wears a hat to commemorate first responders on the anniversary of 9/11 while playing the Toronto Blue Jays in their MLB game at the Rogers Centre on Wednesday in Toronto. Credit: Getty Images/Mark Blinch
TORONTO — Hours before the Mets’ 6-2 win over the Blue Jays on Wednesday, manager Carlos Mendoza offered a bold prediction: “Today we’ll break out.”
His club hadn’t hit much lately. Francisco Lindor suddenly had gotten quiet in the days prior and the rest of the Mets followed. The lineup’s production belied — and threatened — the team’s October aspirations.
It took nearly the entire game, but the Mets eventually proved Mendoza correct. Toronto righthander Bowden Francis carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning until Lindor’s leadoff tying home run — on Francis’ 111th and final pitch — marked the start of a six-run rally.
Back from the brink of infamy, the Mets (80-66) instead ended up with perhaps their best victory of the year, spurred by maybe their biggest hit of the year — another signature swing from Lindor in a season full of them. They have won 11 of their past 13 games and moved to a game ahead of Atlanta, which lost to Washington, for the final NL wild-card spot.
“Special player. Special person. He’s an MVP,” Mendoza said. “The whole dugout — you could feel it — everybody jumping, screaming. From there, you could feel it. Relax now. Let’s go play baseball.”
And so they did. The Blue Jays turned to closer Chad Green in the tied game. He had a bad time, walking three of six batters. Pete Alonso’s sacrifice fly put the Mets on top. Starling Marte’s sacrifice fly provided an insurance run. Francisco Alvarez’s three-run home run — which would have traveled an estimated 439 feet had it not slammed hard off the batter’s eye wall in straightaway centerfield — turned it into a blowout.
“Once Lindor hit that ball, you could feel it, you could sense it,” Mendoza said.
Lindor said: “I’ve never really quantified how big my hits are. But it felt really good. It was one of those hits that I could tell the vibes in the dugout just lifted. Iggy [Jose Iglesias] told [Mark] Vientos, Pete and me in the pitching change, let’s give everything we got. That’s what we went out to the box to do.”
The Mets flirted with a vastly different fate. Francis, who has a 1.50 ERA in seven starts since the Blue Jays put him in the rotation, was perfect until the fifth, when he hit Alonso with a pitch.
That was around when the Mets started to actually challenge him. Brandon Nimmo and J.D. Martinez crushed line drives that turned into outs during a 21-pitch top of the fifth. Harrison Bader sent a shot to the leftfield wall, but a jumping catch from Davis Schneider saved an extra-base hit in the sixth. Nimmo lined out again in the seventh.
Francis began the eighth at 102 pitches, a point at which starting pitchers typically exit the game. But not with a no-hitter on the line, especially when the Blue Jays (69-78) have little else to play for.
Marte and Alvarez opened the eighth by making one-pitch outs. Jesse Winker lasted four. The drama would continue to the ninth.
“He was on today and he’s been doing that for the past few outings. Nothing overpowering, but just enough to miss barrels,” Mendoza said. “You’ve seen it in the past in no-hitters, there’s always a couple of defensive plays, balls being hit right at people. But you can’t get too far ahead and think the worst. You gotta continue to have good at-bats and eventually something good is going to happen.”
It was the second time in four starts that Francis lost a no-hit bid on a leadoff homer in the ninth. He’s the first pitcher to lose two no-hit bids in the ninth in one season since Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan with Texas in 1989.
Sean Manaea, who allowed one run in 6 2⁄3 innings, said: “Bowden pitched unbelievable tonight.”
Or as Lindor put it: “Everything was going his way until the last pitch he threw.”
Lindor stepped to the plate to open the final frame with a clear directive from hitting coach Jeremy Barnes: Swing only if he could turn that offering into a low line drive — a batted ball that wouldn’t hang up and get caught — or work a deep count, with Francis’ pitch count well into triple digits.
“That way we could at least try to get somebody else in the game,” Lindor said.
Francis left an 0-and-2 fastball up and over the heart of the plate. It was a no-doubter, another charmed moment in the Mets’ charmed season. Jubilation ensued.
“I looked in the dugout like, yes, come on,” Lindor said. “That’s a good start to the road trip.”
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.
