The New York Mets have been waiting for Francisco Lindor to be himself on the baseball field. They're hoping the wait may be over.
Lindor, signed to a $341 million, 10-year deal on April 1, had three hits and scored the winning run in the ninth inning in the Mets' 7-6 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday. It was just his second three-hit game of the season and lifted his batting average to .209, his highest mark since April 27.
“I feel confident,” Lindor said. “I'm hitting the pitches I'm supposed to hit hard or fouling them off. It makes you feel good to help the team offensively.”
Lindor snapped a 6-6 tie by scoring on Pete Alonso's single in the ninth. He was at the center of a Mets attack that collected 16 hits, one short of tying a season high.
James McCann homered and drove in four, and New York’s second through fifth hitters — Lindor, McCann, Alonso, Kevin Pillar and Dominic Smith — were a combined 13 of 24 with six RBIs.
“He's been consistent with his approach,” New York manager Luis Rojas said of Lindor. “One thing I'm seeing more is he's using the big part of the field. I think that's giving him a chance. He's getting the barrel to the ball and he's using the whole field. ”
Miguel Castro (2-1) got the win with two scoreless innings, and Edwin Díaz recorded his 10th save after blowing his first opportunity of the season Tuesday.
Arizona starter Madison Bumgarner lasted just two innings, his shortest outing since Aug. 9, 2020. He allowed five earned runs on eight hits, and his ERA climbed to 5.73. Manager Torey Lovullo said Bumgarner was experiencing discomfort in his left shoulder and would get an MRI.
Lovullo said he noticed Bumgarner was in some pain in the second inning and, “Once we discovered that discomfort, it was a no-brainer to get him out of the game.”
Bumgarner said he first started feeling the discomfort two to three weeks ago but didn't tell the Diamondbacks because he thought his shoulder would start feeling better.
“This is just bad judgement on my part,” he said. “I thought it was going to get better and go away sooner. The last three to four days it’s gotten worse and affected my pitching.”
The Mets had six consecutive hits off Bumgarner in the first inning. Jonathan Villar and Lindor led off the game with back-to-back singles and McCann followed with a three-run homer to left field. A double-play groundout by Brandon Drury gave New York a 4-0 lead.
The Diamondbacks responded by batting around and scoring five runs in the bottom of the first inning off Mets starter David Peterson. Marte hit a two-run homer to left field, infielder Ildemaro Vargas had a two-run single to right and Bumgarner drove in a run with a single.
Peterson lasted just 1/3 of an inning, giving up three hits and five earned runs. He walked three batters.
Seth Lugo made his season debut for the Mets and allowed a run over two innings. The right-handed reliever had elbow surgery in February.
Jonathan Villar was removed from the game with right hamstring tightness. Rojas said J.D. Davis' minor-league rehabilitation assignment has been postponed because he experienced discomfort in his sprained left hand after taking swings over the weekend. Davis was originally put on the injured list on May 2. He began a rehab assignment May 18 but played in only four games before being shut down
The Mets (27-21) Travel to San Diego (34-23) for a four-game series. Right-hander Taijuan Walker (4-1, 1.84) will take the mound against Padres right-hander Yu Darvish (5-1, 2.16) game time is 10:10 PM.
(photo: Getty Images)