Francisco Lindor, Mets extend struggles in loss to Guardians
CLEVELAND — Francisco Lindor gave Guardians fans a treat in his homecoming to Progressive Field on Monday.
He did zippo at the plate.
The Mets shortstop wasn’t alone in futility, but as somebody batting only .193 after his 0-for-4 performance, his troubles certainly are pronounced.
On this night, Lindor and the Mets were the Mistake by the Lake in a 3-1 loss to the Guardians.
Other than the offensive woes, the Mets had a costly miscue in the field and on the bases in losing for the eighth time in 11 games.
Starling Marte produced the Mets’ only buzz, with a fourth-inning ejection for protesting plate umpire Manny Gonzalez’s strike three call.
Lindor, who spent his first six major league seasons in Cleveland — but hadn’t played here since his trade to the Mets — heard mostly cheers, with a smattering of boos, upon coming to the plate in the first inning.
Hitting in the leadoff spot for the third straight game since manager Carlos Mendoza’s lineup adjustment, Lindor struck out, grounded out, flied out and grounded out. In May he’s produced a feeble .576 OPS.
“It’s a tough stretch right now,” Lindor said. “It’s just a matter of me getting the barrel to the baseball more often. I just have to be more consistent.”
Tylor Megill, in his return from the injured list, allowed three runs, one unearned, on four hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.
The Guardians jumped on Megill in the first for two runs, one of which was unearned following Brandon Nimmo’s error in left field.
Josh Naylor’s single was misplayed by Nimmo, allowing Naylor to reach second with Jose Ramirez ahead of him advancing to third. David Fry’s ensuing two-run single produced the game’s first scoring.
The Mets had a brutal second inning on the bases, with J.D. Martinez and Marte both thrown out on Marte’s comebacker.
Martinez got caught in a rundown between second and third and Marte, with eyes toward advancing to second, got nailed retreating to first.
“We didn’t play well,” Mendoza said. “We made a couple of mistakes and they made us pay and it wasn’t a good game.”
Tomas Nido blasted a homer against Ben Lively in the third that pulled the Mets within 2-1, Nido’s homer was his second this season and came on a curveball that traveled 405 feet into the left-field seats.
Fry’s leadoff walk in the fourth and steal of second base helped the Guardians take a 3-1 lead on Kyle Manzardo’s RBI double.
But Megill rebounded to strike out Naylor and retire Brayan Rocchio to strand the runner.
“I felt really good out there today,” said Megill, who had last pitched for the Mets on March 31, when he sustained a right shoulder strain. “The command was good … two walks but overall I thought I had a good game plan and executed a lot of pitches well. The biggest frustrating thing was the leadoff walk in the fourth and they ended up scoring.”
Tyrone Taylor, who entered the game after Marte was ejected, walked with two outs in the sixth to load the bases before Brett Baty struck out for the third time in the game.
Marte, who hadn’t been ejected from a game since 2016, said his frustration with the plate umpire Gonzalez went beyond the one pitch.
“I was surprised that he ejected me there,” Marte said through an interpreter. “I felt like I had a case at that point to just tell him what was going on and I felt he had called a lot of bad pitches at that point throughout the game. When that is happening and the situation that we’re in I felt it was appropriate for me to say something to him.”
