SAN FRANCISCO — Francisco Lindor’s reappearance was among the better signs to emerge for the Mets on their 3-3 road trip.
He homered Wednesday in a second straight game, giving the Mets their only real offensive highlight in a 9-3 loss to the Giants at Oracle Park.
A night earlier, Lindor drove in six runs and was the key figure in a wild Mets comeback that ended with the disappointment of a walk-off loss.
Lindor was 8-for-26 (.308) on the road trip. Overall for the month, he is hitting .220 with a .675 OPS.
“I feel better for sure,” Lindor said. “I am putting the ball in play, I am swinging at the pitches I want to swing at and I am hitting them forward. Before I was swinging at the pitch I wanted and I was missing it. I’m actually hitting the ball forward.”
Though Lindor’s numbers had dipped in recent weeks, manager Buck Showalter said it never became a point of concern.
“I understand the scrutiny on a guy with the commitment to him,” Showalter said, referring to Lindor’s 10-year contract, worth $341 million. “But he welcomes it. He’s been playing a really good shortstop, too, and his effort is always good. That is what I am so proud of, he gives you 90 feet and engaging the competition, he wants to play every day and it’s good to see him get a return for that.”
Even with Lindor’s contributions against the Giants, the Mets lost consecutive games for the first time since April 10-11. The series loss was also their second of the season.
“We have a good group, we play the game the right way, we work as hard as we can and San Francisco has got a good team,” Lindor said. “We have been playing well all season long. At some point it’s going to happen. I think it’s kind of impossible to win every series, but hats off to San Francisco, they play the game the right way, they outhit us and outpitched us.”