Francisco Lindor’s afternoon began with the terror of losing a ball (which he eventually found) in the sun. It ended with him basking in that same sun.
The boos Lindor heard from Citi Field fans all too often last season were turned upside down Friday. This was more like $341 million over 10 years.
“It was a great day to be a New York Met today,” Lindor said after smashing two home runs to lead a 10-3 victory over the Diamondbacks before a sellout of 43,820 in the home opener.
Hours earlier, the team unveiled a statue outside the ballpark honoring Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver, the most revered player in franchise history. On the field, the 75th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking MLB’s color barrier was commemorated. Then came the finale: a starting pitching performance from Chris Bassitt that Seaver would have appreciated, and an unrelenting offensive attack.
After he had homered batting right-handed in the eighth inning, giving him a blast from each side of the plate, fans tried to cajole Lindor from the dugout for a curtain call. But the shortstop said he was too lost in the moment to comply.
“The thought didn’t even cross my mind,” Lindor said. “I was just hugging people and high-fiving people and thinking about how the at-bat went.”
Lindor laughed about losing Pavin Smith’s first-inning pop-up in the sun, only to discover it and make the catch.
“My heart rate was probably at 185,” Lindor said.
The Mets won their third straight and for the sixth time in eight games to begin the season. Overall the team hit four homers; Robinson Cano and Starling Marte provided the others.
Brandon Nimmo and Mark Canha, both of whom tested positive for COVID-19, were absent from the team. Bench coach Glenn Sherlock also tested positive and was absent. A source indicated Nimmo and Canha were asymptomatic. Both players were tested because they had been deemed in close contact with a physical therapist who had tested positive.
Jeff McNeil moved into the leadoff spot in Nimmo’s place and was on base to start the first and third innings, both of which included Pete Alonso sacrifice flies that gave the Mets a 2-0 lead.
Cano homered in the fourth — his first blast since returning from a PED suspension that cost him all of last season. In the fifth, Lindor followed Marte’s single with a homer into the right-field porch that extended the Mets’ lead to 5-0. The Mets got another run in the seventh on Eduardo Escobar’s RBI double. In the eighth, Marte delivered a three-run blast and Lindor followed with his second homer of the game.
“We’ve got a ‘show me’ city and [Lindor] is willing to take that on,” manager Buck Showalter said.
Bassitt, in his first career appearance in Queens, allowed one run on two hits and two walks with a hit batsman over six innings, departing after 98 pitches. The right-hander had pitched six shutout innings in his Mets debut last weekend in Washington.
Daulton Varsho homered leading off the sixth for Arizona, the only blemish on Bassitt’s line. The Mets began the day with a 1.29 ERA from the starting rotation and ended it at 1.32.
“Today was a good read of what this team can be for a lot of games this year,” Bassitt said.
Chasen Shreve and Drew Smith each pitched a scoreless inning in relief for the Mets before Sean Reid-Foley surrendered two runs in the ninth. The victory was the Mets’ 11th straight against Arizona at Citi Field.
“This is an electric place when you have days like this and a lot of them,” Showalter said. “There is a great sense of urgency with our fans and I will go back to David Cone’s line a long time ago: ‘When they are frustrated they are waiting to embrace you.’ More than any place you’ll play, it’s up to you to give them something to embrace you about.”
