For practically eight innings Saturday, the Mets squandered scoring alternative after scoring alternative.
They began 0-for-10 with runners in scoring place and left a runner stranded at third base in three of the primary seven frames.
However the Mets wouldn’t be denied.
Francisco Lindor’s walk-off sacrifice fly within the backside of the ninth capped an unbelievable 3-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays at Citi Subject.
Jose Siri scored the profitable run, giving Lindor the seventh walk-off RBI of his profession.
Lindor’s heroics in opposition to Blue Jays reliever Jeff Hoffman adopted an eighth-inning rally through which Jesse Winker’s two-run triple tied the rating.
Lots of the Mets’ missed possibilities earlier than that time got here in opposition to Toronto starter Chris Bassitt, a one-time Met, who hurled 6.2 shutout innings with 9 strikeouts, deploying an eight-pitch combine that elicited 11 swings and misses.
Lindor led off the underside of the primary with a double in opposition to Bassitt, and he moved to 3rd base on a deep fly out by Juan Soto. However Bassitt struck Pete Alonso out for the second out, then escaped the jam when Brandon Nimmo grounded out to second.
Within the backside of the third, Mark Vientos’ inning-ending strikeout stranded Winker, who had tripled with two outs.
Within the seventh, pinch hitter Starling Marte grounded again to reliever Yimi García for the third out, leaving the bases loaded.
The underside of the eighth inning threatened to be extra of the identical after Alonso struck out and Nimmo flew out with two runners on base.
However Winker lastly delivered the clutch hit that had eluded the Mets.
Winker lined a two-run triple in opposition to reliever Brendon Little off of the right-field wall, tying the rating, 2-2. Blue Jays proper fielder George Springer collided with the wall as he tried to catch Winker’s drive and, after receiving medical consideration, needed to depart the sport.
Winker entered Saturday with three triples in his nine-year profession and had not hit one since 2021.
Vientos then had an opportunity to present the Mets the lead, however he struck out for the third out of the eighth, once more stranding Winker at third.
The late-inning drama capped a sport that was scoreless by 4.
Mets starter Griffin Canning traded zeroes with Bassitt early, however he exited after surrendering back-to-back singles to Alan Roden and Bo Bichette to start the highest of the fifth.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. then opened the scoring with an RBI single in opposition to Mets reliever Jose Butto, giving the Jays a 1-0 lead.
Mets followers had given Guerrero a hearty cheer earlier than Friday’s house opener in a nod to the slugger’s impending free company. Rumors connecting the Mets to Guerrero, a four-time All-Star, ramped up this spring after he and the Blue Jays failed to achieve a contract extension.
Latest experiences, nevertheless, recommend the Blue Jays could also be gaining momentum towards a brand new mega-deal. Whereas Guerrero declined to weigh in on his contract standing Friday, he additionally downplayed the importance of the cheers at Citi Subject.
“To be honest with you, that’s normal for me,” Guerrero mentioned by an interpreter. “I never have been booed in any other stadium. Everybody always has been nice to me everywhere I go.”
The Mets gained Friday’s collection opener, 5-0.
They may go for the three-game sweep on Sunday, with David Peterson (1-0, 3.00 ERA) set to pitch for the Mets and Bowden Francis (1-0, 3.00 ERA) scheduled to start out for Toronto.
