Francisco Lindor's fielding flub helps send Mets to loss vs. Twins
Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor (12) catches a line out hit by Minnesota Twins' Brooks Lee during the fifth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Minneapolis. Credit: AP/Abbie Parr
MINNEAPOLIS — Early in a roller coaster of a 6-3 loss to the Twins, before the Mets’ comeback bids fell short and even before Minnesota had gone ahead for good, one of the game’s several turns came via a weird moment from an unlikely suspect.
Francisco Lindor, high-end defender, committed a key fielding error that resulted in a pair of unearned runs Tuesday night. It was the second time on the young season that his miscue at shortstop all but doomed the Mets to a defeat.
“It’s unacceptable. What’s happening right now is unacceptable,” Lindor said. “I gotta be better. This is not to the standard that the Mets have and definitely not to the standard that I have of myself. It’s been two games already that I cost the team. So I gotta get better for sure.”
Lindor also represented the potential tying run when he stepped to the plate with two outs in the ninth. But he struck out swinging against closer Jhoan Duran, stranding Juan Soto in the on-deck circle.
The fielding flub happened in the third inning, when the Twins had runners on the corners with two outs, Tylor Megill on the brink of wiggling out of a jam. Ty France, who is not a fast runner, sent a ground ball up the middle. Lindor took a couple of steps to his left and bobbled it. One run scored. The second came on Carlos Correa’s single two pitches later.
“My eyes got a little blurry. I think it was the weather,” said Lindor, who noted that the dry-eye issue he has dealt with in the past “comes and goes.” “It’s not the reason that I missed a ball. I gotta catch it. I have to catch the ball. Megill worked extremely hard to get out of that inning. And he executed the sinker against Ty. I have to finish the play for him. that’s what it comes down to.”
Lindor’s four errors are tied for second-most in the majors and tied for most among shortstops.
“That’s a play he makes 100 out of 100 [times]. Just one of those that didn’t happen today,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “It happens, man. It’s baseball. He’ll get over there. He’s too good of a player. They’re human, they’re going to make mistakes. I’ll take my chances with him any time.”
In a contest marked by — relatively speaking — mediocre performances from the Mets’ pitchers, that proved to be a needle-mover.
The Mets’ six runs allowed matched their most in a game this season.
Megill survived five innings, yielding four runs (two earned) and eight hits. He struck out three and walked none, which provided him with peace of mind.
“I don’t think it was terrible,” he said. “I think it was productive. Results don’t show, but I thought it was [good] . . . I’d rather get singled to death. It’s not like they were doing damage. I can live with that all day.”
Max Kranick allowed two runs in 1 2/3 innings, ending his season-opening 10-inning scoreless streak.
The Mets, meanwhile, had what could be described as an unlucky evening against Twins righthander Bailey Ober (6 1/3 innings, three runs). Seven of their hard-hit batted balls turned into outs. That included groundouts from Luisangel Acuna at 110 and 104 mph.
Pete Alonso homered in the first inning, and Soto went deep in the fourth — creating a temporary tie after Lindor’s flub. Soto’s was his second in as many days. Alonso’s was his team-high fifth of the year.
“We knew [Ober] was going to attack us,” Mendoza said. “We knew he was going to throw strikes. We just didn’t have results.”
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.
