Lindor Homer Lifts Mets to Fifth Straight Win

The West Coast had to feel like the best coast for Francisco Lindor.

The slumping star shortstop hit a two-run, tie-breaking home run in the seventh inning to help lead the New York Mets (11-8) to their fifth straight victory, a 9-4 decision over the Los Angeles Dodgers (12-10) at Dodger Stadium. The Mets have now won 11 of their last 14 contests after an 0-5 start.

Lindor was 0-for-16 with runners in scoring position when he hit the blast, his second of the season, to right with Starling Marte standing on second base. The home run gave the Mets a 6-4 lead before Marte’s two-run single with the bases loaded and two outs provided the Mets with an 8-4 advantage just an inning later.

The Mets hit rookie Yoshinobu Yamamoto hard – a pitcher they went after hard in the offseason.

DJ Stewart‘s solo home run to right in the second inning broke a scoreless tie. Harrison Bader singled home Francisco Álvarez later in the inning for a 2-0 lead. New York got another pair of runs in the third on an opposite field single by Pete Alonso and a Stewart sacrifice fly.

Yamamoto gave up four runs (three earned) on seven hits over six innings. He fanned nine and walked one.

Mets owner Steve Cohen and president of baseball operations David Stearns flew to Japan to woo Yamamoto in December. Cohen also had the three-time Pacific League MVP over to dinner at his Connecticut home with Stearns, Carlos Mendoza and Jeremy Hefner. The Mets reportedly offered him the same contract he signed with the Dodgers, a 12-year, $325 million pact that is the longest in years and largest in total salary for a pitcher in major league history.

A month after Yamamoto picked Los Angeles, the Mets signed Sean Manaea to a two-year, $28 million deal.

Manaea went five innings, giving up two runs on four hits while striking out four and walking three. He fanned Freddie Freeman with two outs and two on to end the fifth with the Mets leading 4-2.

A pair of Joey Wendle errors in the sixth helped the Dodgers score two runs to tie the game at 4-4. New York entered the day last in the league in defensive runs saved at -14.

Reed Garrett got Mookie Betts to fly out to deep left with two on and two out to end the sixth as the sides remained deadlocked. Adam Ottavino got James Outman to fly out to deep right with two on and two out to end the seventh with the score still tied.

Stewart added an insurance run with an RBI single in the ninth as part of a 2-for-4, three RBI performance.

Álvarez hurt his left thumb while running the bases in the second inning. He lost his balance while going from first to second and planted his hand on the ground to steady himself. His hand made contact with the ground again while he slid feet first into second. He stayed in the game and scored a run, but Omar Narváez replaced him when the Mets took the field. He may have originally hurt the thumb sliding headfirst on Wednesday. Mendoza stated that he was undergoing an MRI after the contest concluded.

Brett Baty, who hasn’t played since leaving Tuesday’s game with a tight left hamstring, took infield and batting practice on Friday. He is not expected to be placed on the injured list.

Prior to tonight, the last time a Mets third baseman made two errors in one inning was Jonathan Villar in 2021, per the SNY broadcast.

Shohei Ohtani stole second. The Mets have allowed 26 consecutive runners to steal to start the season, a major league record. The all-time in-season mark for allowing consecutive steals in Mets franchise history is 27, set in 1990, per SNY.

Yamamoto gave up two home runs across 164 innings in Japan last season. With Stewart’s homer, he’s now given up three in 22 major league innings.

Bader went 4-for-5 with a run scored, a run batted in and his fourth stolen base of the season. He is now slashing .333/.367/.421 on the year.

José Butto (0-0, 0.75) will try to guide the Mets to their sixth straight victory when he faces right-hander Gavin Stone (1-1, 6.14) at 4:05 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on WPIX and FS1.