With the New York Mets leading by just one run in the top of the ninth inning, 4-3, Francisco Lindor stepped to the plate with two runners on and nobody outs. In an inning where it seemed like the Mets did not want to waste much more time, Lindor took Royals reliever Taylor Clarke deep on the very first pitch he faced, sending a 93-mph fastball near the top of the zone all the way to the bleacher in right-center field.
For a second, it looked as though Royals center fielder Tyler Tolbert would have a play, potentially stealing a home run from Lindor and preventing the Mets from running away from the ballgame. Instead, Tolbert couldn’t reach the ball, which landed safely in Kauffman Stadium’s Fountain Deck.
For the Mets fanbase, this was a home run that gave them major reason to breathe a sigh of relief. They were on the receiving end of two heartbreaking losses to the Baltimore Orioles in recent days, and then they found themselves in another close game, this time against the Royals.
Nonetheless, Lindor, the starting shortstop for the NL All-Star team, took it upon himself to give the Mets a comfortable cushion that they would not relinquish. And then to top it all off, Juan Soto made things worse for the Royals, as he launched another home run off Clark to extend New York’s lead to five runs.
With the Mets locked into a close battle with the Philadelphia Phillies for the division lead, any win is crucial. For New York, it’s imperative that they enter the All-Star break having built some momentum after sputtering in recent weeks to open up the NL East title race against the Phillies.
Francisco Lindor is coming alive yet again for the Mets
Over the past week or so, Lindor has been raking for the Mets, erasing memories of the brutal stretch he endured in the middle of the season when he and New York ran cold and lost one ballgame after another. Over the last seven days, Lindor has an OPS 0f 1.160, hitting two home runs and eight runs batted in and acting as a catalyst behind New York’s much improved play as of late.
On the season, Lindor now has 19 home runs and 54 runs batted in on a slash line of .263/.335/.46 while playing his usually solid defense at shortstop. His contributions on the season have been worth 3.6 WAR, per Fangraphs — the best on the team.
