For at least one game, the Mets got the superstar they envisioned. Francisco Lindor had yet to hit multiple homers or knock in more than two runs in a Mets uniform, and was buried in yet another slump, hitless in his last 11 at-bats before Saturday.
He more than snapped out of it in the Mets’ 5-1 win over the Nationals, stroking two two-run homers off Joe Ross and sandwiching an RBI single between them.
The Mets (36-27) badly needed it, as they hadn’t scored for 21 straight innings and had been two-hit in consecutive shutout losses to the Cubs and Nationals. Lindor ended that in just six pitches Saturday, hitting a 384-foot homer to center to give the Mets a 2-0 lead in the top of the first.
Lindor’s next two at-bats both knocked in starting pitcher David Peterson, who was hit by a pitch and reached on his first career hit, a fifth-inning double. Lindor’s 414-foot no-doubter two batters later gave the Mets a comfortable cushion in the seven-inning game.
Actually, it was better than they envisioned: Lindor hadn’t had five RBIs since 2018.
On the mound, Peterson was solid for the second straight start, allowing one run in 4 2/3 innings. Peterson, who had struggled with the long ball earlier this season, held the Nationals to two true outcomes on Saturday. He struck out six and walked three against just two hits, both by Trea Turner. And the wildness went beyond the walks: He hit a batter and at one point threw consecutive wild pitches.
Peterson, who threw a season-high 94 pitches, was charged with a run after Juan Soto had an RBI single off Aaron Loup in the fifth. It’s the only run he’s allowed in his last 10 2/3 innings.
Behind Peterson, the Mets ended up leaning heavily on their bullpen in the first game of the doubleheader. It took Loup, Miguel Castro, Seth Lugo and Trevor May to get the final seven outs. Curiously, with the pitcher’s spot due up to bat, manager Luis Rojas brought in Lugo to get a single out in the sixth and didn’t double switch. The seven-inning game took more than two hours and 40 minutes.
Lindor’s huge day at the plate came after the Nationals’ Twitter account spent two days trolling Lindor and boosting Turner. The Nationals’ shortstop was valuable Sunday, with three of his team’s four hits, but at least for one game, he was no Francisco Lindor.
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On his 33rd birthday, Jacob deGrom gave Mets fans a present: He said he’s likely to make his next start as scheduled. Rojas and deGrom wouldn’t quite say he would certainly pitch the first game of a doubleheader against the Braves on Monday, but both said he was on track to do so. DeGrom said that “if I feel terrible,” that could stop him from pitching, but “I don’t anticipate that.”
The pitcher continued to blame his shoulder issue on swinging a bat, not throwing.
While deGrom’s lethal bat — he’s hitting .423 with a .885 OPS this year — might be neutralized, the Mets should be getting some reinforcement in the lineup soon. Albert Almora was set to start in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader. The outfielder had been out since May 11 after crashing into the Citi Field wall. And in even better news, Rojas said that Jeff McNeil was set to return and play one of games in Monday’s doubleheader.
McNeil had been out since May 16 and had been through a stop-and-go return from a strained hamstring.
