Offense Backs Thornton’s Strong Outing in 12-2 Win

In Game Two of the Subway Series in the Bronx, the New York Mets came out swinging against the New York Yankees and Gerrit Cole. They hit six home runs and 14 hits in Saturday’s 12-2 win. Francisco Lindor hit two of those. The second was a grand slam. Juan Soto, Jared Young, Carson Benge, and Luis Torrens also homered. Nine of the Mets’ twelve runs were with two outs. The Mets got a great effort from Zac Thornton, who went seven innings. The Mets are 68-79 on the season.

Five years to the day after Lindor hit three home runs against the Yankees at Citi Field, he started this game for the Mets against Cole with a leadoff home run to put them up 1-0. It was Lindor’s eighteenth leadoff home run as a Met. In the top of the eighth inning with the Mets up 7-2, Lindor came to bat with the bases loaded. Against Bradley Hanner, Lindor took a 2-0 fastball over the right-field wall for a grand slam to make the game 11-2 Mets. With the grand slam, Lindor notched five RBIs on the day, with three hits, and he now has 299 career home runs.

Lindor was the lead catalyst in the Mets offense in Saturday’s win, but he wasn’t the only big contributor. One inning after Lindor’s led things off with a homer, Torrens hit a two-run home run against Cole in the second inning, as his hot streak continues. In the top of the third inning, Benge just got one over the short porch in right field for a home run. Benge’s home run broke a streak of 68 at-bats for him without a home run. Benge also made a diving catch later in the game to rob Aaron Judge of a hit.

After a Soto double in the top of the fifth inning, Benge advanced to third on a Bo Bichette sacrifice fly; Benge drove in his second RBI of the day with an RBI single off Cole. That made the Mets lead up to 5-1. Soto then homered in the top of the seventh inning against Tim Hill to extend the Mets lead to 6-2. Torrens would hit his third RBI of the day with a double in the top of the eighth inning. That would set up the Lindor grand slam. Finally, Young’s home run that hit the second deck in right field in the ninth inning was the Mets’ sixth home run of the day.

Coming off a tough start against the San Francisco Giants, Thornton was looking for a bounce-back start on Saturday. It was a tall task for Thornton as a rookie against the Yankees, but he gave the Mets what they needed and then some. Thornton allowed five hits, two runs, only one walk, and struck out four. The big moment for Thornton came in the top of the seventh.

The Mets were up 6-2, with one out and two runners on base, Anthony Volpe coming up, and the tying run on deck. Mets manager Andy Green paid a visit to the mound with Dedniel Nunez warming up, but after a conversation with his rookie pitcher, he decided to leave Thornton in the game. It was a big chance Green took, but Thornton got a key double-play ball to end the inning. It’s his second seven-inning outing of the season.

Lindor hit two home runs, one to leadoff the game and then a grand slam. He notched three hits and five RBIs, and that contributed to a Mets win.

Christian Scott gets the start for the Mets on Sunday afternoon against Cam Schlittler. The game will start at 1:35 pm EDT and will be televised locally on SNY and broadcast on WHSQ 880 AM.