QUEENS, NY — This still matters very much to Francisco Lindor.
Even amidst a lost season that will provide a second straight playoff miss — one that is also on pace to be the worst individual one, statistics-wise, in his 12-year career — the passion was still there for the New York Mets’ superstar shortstop in the top of the ninth inning of an otherwise meaningless August game against the Milwaukee Brewers.
With the bases loaded and two outs in a 2-2 game on Tuesday night at Citi Field, just moments after reliever Austin Warren blew a save by allowing a pinch-hit RBI double to Christian Yelich, Brewers third baseman David Hamilton sent a sharp liner off reliever Jefry Yan deep into the hole between shortstop and third base.
Considering how things have gone for these 2026 Mets, who sit at the bottom of the NL East, it was destined to find the outfield grass. Instead, Lindor made his finest defensive play of the year — making a diving catch to keep things tied going into the bottom of the ninth.
Lindor leapt to his feet and let out a roar in a rare showing of emotion this summer.
“The team has picked me up more times than I have picked them up this year,” Lindor, who scored the game-winning run as the ghost runner in the bottom of the 10th on Hamilton’s throwing error, said. “So to be there for the guys, it meant a lot… I just want to be the best person myself and lift the team up.”
While Lindor reveled in short left field, Yan fell off the mound and onto his knees, then thumped the grass with his hand before delivering similar blows to his chest while walking to the Mets’ dugout. The rookie right-hander has been the talk around baseball because of his histrionics, most notably leaping in the air and falling into a crouching position after a strikeout.
“100% the vibes are contagious,” Lindor said of Yan. “He should continue to jump and continue to be himself. At the end of the day, he’s Jefry; he got here for a reason, and he should continue to be himself. He shouldn’t tame it because people are saying he should be tame… He’s not disrespecting anybody. He’s not trying to offend anybody. So I was pumped when he came in, and I was pumped when he got the outs.”
Despite getting picked off from first in the bottom of the ninth after a two-out infield single, Tuesday was arguably Lindor’s finest all-around performance of the season. He tied the game up at one apiece in the fifth inning with a solo home run, his 13th of the season.
It’s little consolation for what has been a trying campaign in practically every aspect. Along with the lack of team and individual success, Lindor missed two months during the first half because of a calf strain.
Things do appear to be coming around, though. Over his last 34 games, he is batting .277 with an .876 OPS, eight home runs, and 21 RBI. Asked what he wants to do in this final month of the season, Lindor said: “Be the best version of myself. Be Francisco Lindor.”
“Just play as hard as I can, day in and day out,” Lindor said. “Give everything I got to the guys, and we’ll see where it takes us. At the end of the day, we still got a lot of games left… good things can happen.”
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