Mets top Diamondbacks as Francisco Lindor goes 4-for-4, J.D. Martinez hits late game-winning home run
Mets’ J.D. Martinez hits a home run in the bottom of the eighth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Citi Field on Thursday, May 30, 2024. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
At a mostly empty Citi Field, the Mets showed signs of progress Thursday night: They beat the Diamondbacks, 3-2, and nobody threw equipment into the stands in a fit of anger.
J.D. Martinez hit a game-winning home run off Ryan Thompson in the bottom of the eighth, a laser to straightaway centerfield.
But Francisco Lindor was the star. A day after initiating a players-only meeting amid their May malaise and the Jorge Lopez episode, he finished 4-for-4 with an early home run and a tying RBI single in the seventh.
This was the first time since May 7 that the Mets (23-33) won a game that wasn’t a sweep-avoiding situation. And it was just their second win in the past 10 games overall.
“This is not about being the main character,” Lindor said. “That’s not what it’s about. Anybody could’ve had a good night tonight and I would’ve been happy. It just worked out it was me. Tomorrow it’s going to be someone else.”
The win went to lefthander Danny Young, a 30-year-old rookie who tossed a perfect top of the eighth against the top of the D-backs’ lineup. The Mets called him up from Triple-A Syracuse before the game to replace Lopez, who was designated for assignment following his meltdown — glove tossed into the stands, no remorse in his postgame interview — Wednesday.
Christian Scott held Arizona (25-31) to two runs in five innings. The D-backs lost their top starter, Zac Gallen, to a strained right hamstring six pitches and zero outs into his outing, so they used six relievers in his place.
Altogether, it meant better vibes for the Mets.
“Vibes are the most important thing on a daily basis,” Lindor said. “You gotta be optimistic, you gotta be upbeat, you gotta stay in a state of mind where you believe you can do anything."
Martinez said: “It was one of the better meetings I’ve had as far as positivity and us leaving a meeting actually confident . . . The atmosphere, the way everyone interacted and how we all left. It wasn’t one of those meetings where you just kinda [say], ‘OK, we have to be better.’ No, let’s start having fun again and start enjoying this. If we lose, we lose. We’re putting the pressure on ourselves at this point.”
When Martinez spoke up during the meeting, he talked about pressure.
“It doesn’t exist,” he said. “If we lose, we lose. [Outsiders] already think we’re the worst in baseball, you know? So let’s just go out there and do what we do.”
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.
