MLB

New York Mets at Toronto Blue Jays

· Major League Baseball
New York Mets
80-66, 40-32 Away
Final
6 - 2
Toronto Blue Jays
69-78, 35-37 Home

Lindor's leadoff HR in 9th ends Francis' no-hit bid and Mets rally for 6-2 win over Blue Jays

“It felt really good,” Lindor said of his pivotal home run. “It was one of those hits that I could tell the vibes in the dugout were lifted.”

New York moved a game ahead of rival Atlanta for the final National League wild card when the Braves lost 5-1 at Washington.

With the crowd of 29,399 on their feet to start the ninth, Francis got ahead of Lindor 0-2 before the four-time All-Star drilled a 92 mph fastball 398 feet to right field for his 31st home run.

“Everything was going his way until the last pitch he threw,” Lindor said.

The homer came on Francis’ 111th pitch, only the second time he’s thrown more than 100.

“With that many pitches, I felt like I had to empty the tank with heaters and let him put the ball in play,” Francis said.

It was the second time in four starts Francis lost a no-hitter on a leadoff homer in the ninth — Taylor Ward connected off the right-hander for the Los Angeles Angels on Aug. 24.

That made Francis the first pitcher to lose two no-hit bids in the ninth inning during one season since Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan with Texas in 1989.

“It sucks for him that it’s happened twice in the same fashion,” Toronto manager John Schneider said.

Dave Stieb threw the only no-hitter in Blue Jays history at Cleveland on Sept. 2, 1990. Two years earlier, Stieb lost two no-hitters in the ninth.

Francis’ two recent close calls are the longest no-hit bids by a Blue Jays pitcher since Brandon Morrow tossed 8 2/3 hitless innings against Tampa Bay in August 2010.

Francis was selected AL pitcher of the month for August, when he went 4-1 with a 1.05 ERA. He struck out 39 and walked four in six appearances, five starts.

“I just can’t speak enough to how he’s evolved and how much he has taken from this opportunity,” Schneider said.

Francis walked one, struck out one and twice hit a batter with a pitch.

“We couldn’t put much together,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He was on today. He’s been doing that the past few outings. Nothing overpowering, but just enough to miss barrels.”

Lindor’s drive was New York’s first home run in the last four games, and the first by either team in the series.

“He just got us going,” Mendoza said. “Special player, special person.”

Sean Manaea struck out eight in 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run and three hits. Danny Young (4-0) got one out in relief to help the Mets win for the 11th time in 13 games.

Pinch-hitter Addison Barger had an RBI single off Ryne Stanek with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. George Springer followed with an infield single, but Edwin Díaz needed only one pitch to earn his 18th save in 24 chances.

Chad Green (4-6) replaced Francis and gave up an infield single to Jose Iglesias, who advanced to second on a throwing error. Mark Vientos and Brandon Nimmo walked to load the bases before Pete Alonso hit a sacrifice fly.

J.D. Martinez walked to load the bases a second time, and Starling Marte chased Green with a sacrifice fly.

Génesis Cabrera came on and gave up a first-pitch homer to Alvarez, the seventh of the season for the Mets catcher and first since Aug. 19.

The Mets have been no-hit eight times. Max Scherzer was the last pitcher to do it, with Washington on Oct. 3, 2015.

New York’s Harrison Bader opened the sixth with a drive to deep left field but Toronto’s Davis Schneider made a great catch at the wall.

The Mets honored first responders with special caps, and Lindor used a custom-decorated glove on the anniversary of 9/11.

Lindor needed time when a wasp landed on his glove at shortstop in the bottom of the sixth. Second base umpire Stu Scheurwater helped out by whacking the wasp with his cap.

“They were still out there,” Lindor said. “It was one of those where we were saying, ‘Hopefully, it didn’t die.’ We didn’t want any more bugs to come around.”

Davis Schneider drove in Toronto’s first run on a fielder’s choice in the fourth.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Mets RHP Paul Blackburn returned to New York to get imaging on his sore lower back, Mendoza said.

UP NEXT

Mets: LHP Jose Quintana (8-9, 4.09 ERA) is scheduled to start Friday as New York visits Philadelphia for the opener of a three-game series.

Blue Jays: Toronto hosts St. Louis in a three-game series beginning Friday.

How can I watch New York Mets vs. Toronto Blue Jays?
  • TV Channel: Mets at Blue Jays 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.TV.
  • Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Blue Jays: 49.4%
Mets: 50.6%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

9th Inning Lukes flied out to left.
9th Inning Díaz relieved Stanek
9th Inning Springer reached on infield single to shortstop, Barger to second.
9th Inning Barger singled to right, Varsho scored.
9th Inning Varsho to third on fielder's indifference.
9th Inning Barger hit for Serven

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/nym.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originNYM https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/tor.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originTOR
1 Games Played 1
1 Team Games Played 1
2 Hit By Pitch 0
6 Ground Balls 10
1 Strikeouts 9
6 Runs Batted In 2
0 Sacrifice Hit 0
4 Hits 6
0 Stolen Bases 1
5 Walks 5
0 Catcher Interference 0
6 Runs 2
0 Ground Into Double Play 0
2 Sacrifice Flies 0
29 At Bats 33
2 Home Runs 0
0 Grand Slam Home Runs 0
6 Runners Left On Base 18
0 Triples 0
1 Game Winning RBIs 0
0 Intentional Walks 0
1 Doubles 0
24 Fly Balls 14
0 Caught Stealing 0
156 Pitches 142
0 Games Started 0
2 Pinch At Bats 2
1 Pinch Hits 1
0.0 Player Rating 0.0
1 Is Qualified 1
0 Is Qualified In Steals 1
11 Total Bases 6
38 Plate Appearances 38
324.0 Projected Home Runs 0.0
3 Extra Base Hits 0
4.0 Runs Created 2.2
.138 Batting Average .182
.500 Pinch Hit Average .500
.379 Slugging Percentage .182
.414 Secondary Average .182
.289 On Base Percentage .289
.669 OBP Pct + SLG Pct .471
0.3 Ground To Fly Ball Ratio 0.7
4.0 Runs Created Per 27 Outs 2.2
36.0 Batter Rating 15.0
14.5 At Bats Per Home Run 0.0
0.00 Stolen Base Percentage 1.00
4.11 Pitches Per Plate Appearance 3.74
.241 Isolated Power .000
5.00 Walk To Strikeout Ratio 0.56
.132 Walks Per Plate Appearance .132
.276 Secondary Average Minus Batting Average .000
12.0 Runs Produced 4.0
1.0 Runs Ratio 1.0
0.5 Patience Ratio 0.3
0.1 Balls In Play Average 0.3
81.8 MLB Rating 67.5
0.0 Offensive Wins Above Replacement 0.0
0.0 Wins Above Replacement 0.0

Game Information

Rogers Centre

Location: Toronto, Ontario
Attendance: 29,399 | Capacity:

2024 National League East Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Philadelphia 95 67 .586 - W1
Atlanta 89 73 .549 6 W1
New York 89 73 .549 6 L1
Washington 71 91 .438 24 L1
Miami 62 100 .383 33 W4

2024 American League East Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
New York 94 68 .580 - W1
Baltimore 91 71 .562 3 W3
Boston 81 81 .500 13 W1
Tampa Bay 80 82 .494 14 L1
Toronto 74 88 .457 20 L3
Full Standings