The Mets’ night looked ruined.
The one-run lead they entered the ninth with was already gone. And the 13th pitch from the frame’s second reliever, Jefry Yan, looked to be one that was the most unlucky from Tuesday’s game, as the Milwaukee Brewers’ light-hitting infielder David Hamilton appeared to come through with a back-breaking two-out, two-run tie-breaking single.
"I already saw that ball down,” Mets’ interim manager Andy Green said of the liner that carried a .510 expected batting average, per Statcast. “It's that deflating feeling when you know the ball's about to land.”
But Francisco Lindor, who homered earlier in the game to level the score in the fifth, broke hard to his right and made a diving, backhanded grab just onto the outfield grass to keep the game tied.
“Came out of nowhere. Really, really special," Green added. “That absolutely saved the game for us."
And then in the 10th, it was Lindor scoring the game-winning run as Hamilton’s throwing error from third gave the Mets a 3-2 walk-off win.
While the interim skipper was deflated, of course, Lindor knew he had a chance to make the play as soon as the ball came off the bat.
“Felt like I got a good read on it, and I just felt like it was going to tail away from me, and make a play,” the shortstop said. "I'd much rather do that than hit, to be quite honest. I loved it.”
Lindor called making that play “the best feeling in the world."
“I love playing defense,” he told SNY’s Steve Gelbs on the field after the win. “I love taking hits away and helping my pitchers out."
The reaction from Lindor was emphatic, nearly matching that from the ever-excited Yan, who dropped to his knees and pounded the turf before standing and pounding his chest.
“Everything he has is put on the field to win a baseball game today,” Green said of Lindor. “And if everything you have is on the field and you do something like that it, [the emotion] is just natural to come out of you.
“... You just enjoy those moments. It’s one of the reasons you play the game.”
For some of the great defenders, the cliché is that the first step is in their head and they’re already into the right spot even before they have to make a move. The two-time Gold Glove winner credited bench coach Kai Correa, infield coach Tim Leiper, and the team’s analytics department for positioning him against Hamilton.
“And then after that, it’s just a matter of run as fast as you can, and hopefully my legs get me there,” Lindor said.
And while the shortstop is the first to admit this year hasn’t been one of his best in the field – entering Tuesday’s game with a minus-4 defensive runs saved, minus-3 outs above average and nine errors – he came up with the goods when they needed it most.
"The team has picked me up more times than I've picked them up this year," Lindor said. "To be there for the guys, it meant a lot. I've been wanting to do that."
Green acknowledged the tough season Lindor has gone through, with multiple injuries costing him game time and any hope of establishing rhythm in the field and at the plate, but he's again showing his skill with seven home runs and 16 RBI, while batting .267 with an .887 OPS in his last 26 games.
“It was a really tough season to get on-track for him and get the ball rolling in the right direction,” he said. “Just had so many stops and starts with different injuries, starting in spring training, kinda all the way through the season for a bit.
“But once he got to playing baseball consistently, he’s been great. One of the best players in the game.”
