Francisco Lindor‘s two home runs in Friday’s 4-2 win over the Colorado Rockies, a series opener that saw the Mets (35-22) rebound from Wednesday’s 9-4 loss to the Chicago White Sox, are a good sign for New York.
After an 0-for-5 day at the plate against the White Sox (18-38), Lindor bounced back with long balls from both sides — leading off the first and eighth innings — to handle the Rockies (9-48).
Lindor was in a 4-for-25 rut stemming from last Friday’s 7-5 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. It continued throughout the week, but he turned a corner by turning his four at-bats into three hits that sparked the Mets.
“That’s part of the 162 where they’re going to go through some ups and downs,” said Carlos Mendoza. “It’s not going to be perfect all the time. But when you see him going — especially from the left side — left-center (field) like that, that’s when he’s clicking.
“From the right side, obviously, hitting the ball to the pull side and then a bullet up the middle — balance, in a position to make some really good swing decisions and then obviously hitting the ball with authority.”
Lindor is up to 12 home runs and 33 RBI through 56 games.
“There’s been a lot of PT work, there’s been a lot of talking with the coaches and just studying film and I’m still not there yet,” said Lindor, who is slashing .278/.347/.480. “I’ve got to continue to work. I’ve been watching Pete (Alonso) a lot, watching other guys — Tyrone (Taylor) — the way they do things. And it’s just like trying to pick up some things — (Francisco Alvarez), same thing. We don’t hit the same, but we all have similar movements. Once I can do the movement, my body aligns correctly, things should fall.”
“I’m healthy, but making sure my body is moving correctly — making sure I’m rotating the right way, making sure I’m repeating the patterns that swing has,” Lindor added.
Between Lindor’s opening and closing homers, plus Juan Soto‘s RBI double and Starling Marte‘s solo shot, David Peterson and the Mets’ bullpen had enough run support to work with while holding the Rockies to two runs on six hits in the two hours and 17 minutes of game time.
“Any time you can jump on a team and get an early lead, it gives the offense rhythm, gives us the lead to go out there and pitch and get after guys,” said Peterson (4-2, 2.69 ERA), who allowed one run on five hits while striking out five and walking one in 5.2 IP. “It’s always good to get some runs early and be able to have the lead like that.”
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