LINDOR PUTS FOOT DOWN WITH PINCH HIT GAME WINNING DOUBLE

Well, even when he's hurt and out of the game and out of the, you know, thinking he's out, Francisco Lindor is getting big hits and winning games for the Mets as he did again last night in a pinch hit roll, coming in and hitting a two RBI double in the ninth inning that won a crazy game for the Mets. Right? A lot of crazy things happen, but when you boil it down, it was good starting pitching. It was Alonzo. It was Lindor getting big hits. And that's been the formula for the Mets so far this season and why they are 16 games over 500.00:00:39 Why they were in first place in the NL East? Why they are just playing solid, solid baseball. And listen again, Senga starting pitching. Excellent job. Six innings, one run. The Mets will, you know, it's not his fault. The Mets were leaving runners all over the bases all night. They left 12 on. They left 12 on base. They were three for 15 with runners in scoring position. They couldn't buy a hit until the seventh inning when Alonzo came in with two on and two out and got a big rip.00:01:10 Up the gap and left center field all the way to the wall and scored two runs. The Mets had a 2-1 lead. And you thought, okay, you know, we're in good shape, but they gave it right back. And it was 2-2. And then, you know, it was back and forth again. Craziness. The craziest thing that happened last night was that both teams had bases loaded, no outs, and couldn't get a single run. Neither team could get a single run. That is so hard to do. All you got to do is make contact, really. And you're more than likely going to get a run.00:01:37 The Mets went up there with the bases loaded. Three straight strikeouts. And Alvarez in the middle of it. And I did. I'm sick of getting sick and tired of Alvarez at the plate, to be honest with you. But the Mets, three straight strikeouts. Bases loaded, no outs. Rockies get out of it. Later in the game, Stanek on the mound, he got himself three straight walks. He walked two and he hit a batter. That loaded the bases. And he got, I mean, it doesn't get any luckier than that because he got a line drive. Beatty caught it and tagged the runner, which he didn't have to do, by the way.00:02:06 You could just touch the base for the second out. And then he got a big strikeout. And he got out of the gym. I mean, I tried looking it up because I was curious as to when it has ever happened before. I mean, I'm sure it has, but I couldn't find it when the last time it happened. But man, the Mets wiggle out of trouble and they've been listening. They've been doing that all year. Things have just been going their way. And then you get Lindor in the ninth inning who comes to the plate, which I wasn't, I wasn't very happy.00:02:34 I mean, two days after the guy breaks his, his toe, do we really need him out there? But he went out there and he first pitch, ripped it down the right field line, two runs scored. And again, starting pitching Alonzo and Lindor and the Mets win the ball game and they went for two. They are the season high, 16 games over 500. They're now two and a half ahead of the Phillies who lost again as they've, they've come down to earth.00:03:00 Right. Remember two weeks ago when they were winning nine in a row flying past the Mets had a three game lead in the Mets. We go. No, listen, the baseball is the kind of thing you don't need to get worried about stuff. You don't have to worry every day. It's not football where you got to win this game or this has got to happen. But the stuff will play out and the Phillies have come back down to earth. The Mets are playing well. They're seven and three in their last 10. They could have swept the Dodgers. Let's be real. That's going to want all four of those games. They probably should have won all four of those games.00:03:30 Now, I get it. They didn't. They won two. But now you come here into Colorado and if you could sweep through these three, you have the Rays and the Nationals coming up next at home and you could really put together a solid, you know, month of baseball and pull away a little bit, hopefully from the Phillies because the Braves are fading. Braves lost the game the other night. That game that they lost when we were on the air talking, me and Brett, and we got the update that the Braves had lost.00:03:59 The Braves were up 10-4 with one out and nobody on in the ninth inning against the Diamondbacks. 10-4. Six run lead, one out, nobody on, and they lost the game. And that's just, that's a Mets thing, right? That's something that would happen to the Mets. That's a crushing loss. They've just played terrible. They're playing themselves right into last place. They're behind the Nationals now. But anyway, back to last night.00:04:24 And another thing that's starting to kind of work itself out here is Soto, right? It's starting to come together. And I'm going to tell you why. I saw a number the other day, yesterday, why it's really us worrying and even giving any attention to the Yankee fans that are sitting there telling you, oh, he's a bust. We don't want him anyway. We don't need him. Listen to this. Tonight, Soto will play his thousandth game. He's been in the league for a thousand games.00:04:51 Tonight, he has 212 home runs. He has 820 walks. 212 home runs, 820 walks. Only two players in Major League history have ever had 200 home runs, 800 walks in their first thousand games. Ted Williams and Frank Thomas.00:05:13 And when you start comparing somebody that names like that, baseball royalty, you understand why people kept saying, don't worry, don't worry. He's going to be okay. You don't play a thousand games basically on the level of Frank Thomas and Ted Williams and all of a sudden just forget how to play because you signed a new contract. I think he's starting to come to grips with the pressure and with the money and everything. He's trying to get himself set. He's fine. He's fine.00:05:43 And he was on base again four times again last night, three for four with a walk. He scored two runs. He scored on the Alonzo hit. He scored on the Lindor hit. And when those three get it going and we know Lindor is just always, he's always clutch. You can always count on Lindor, which is great to have a guy in the lineup like that where you just, he comes to the plate and you just, you know, you can count on him. You have the utmost faith that he's going to come through. And Alonzo is that this season.00:06:14 And when you have Soto hit now and you get Lindor, Alonzo and Soto, look out, look out. Mets are 16 games over 500. The only time they've ever had a better start than this was 86 where they had at this point, they had 45 wins. So just to show how that team won 100 something games. Mets are right on pace to win 100 games this year. And the pitching has just been off the charts that nobody saw coming.00:06:45 I mean, off the charts with the pitching. The pitching is first in ERA with an under three 2.84 ERA. They're sixth in strikeouts, 573 strikeouts. The starting pitching has the best ERA. The relievers, the bullpen has the second best ERA in baseball. And this is a staff that struggled in the bullpen last year that has lost its ace, Sean Minaya, who made a start yesterday down in the minors. We'll talk about that in a minute.00:07:14 The pitching has really been the catalyst for this whole thing. And then when you get three guys like Lindor, Alonzo, and Soto, and they're going to be hitting, you know, then you just need to, then you just fill in with the role players. And they're all coming through at different times. Marte is the latest. Marte's been good. I thought Marte might have been finished. He's been, listen, his last six, he's gotten hit big hits the last two nights. He's always in the middle of a rally. He scored big runs the last couple of days. He is, let me see, where's Marte?00:07:44 Marte's last six games, he's hit 353. He scored seven runs. He's got a home run. He's got two walks. That's what we need for Marte. He's not going to be the player he was three years ago. This is going to be more. And if you can count on Marte coming off the bench, then I think that's huge because he's got some pop. He's got some power. He's a good, he's heady baseball player. He's got speed. I mean, Marte's perfect coming off the bench.00:08:12 And as far as, like I said, Soto's coming around. I wouldn't worry about that. Alvarez, I'm a little worried about. I'm getting sick of time. Alvarez is just, he's just not doing it this year, right? I mean, Alvarez has been terrible since he's come back from the injury. I almost rather see Terrens in there. I feel better when Terrens is in the lineup than I do with Alvarez. And I'm going to give you his numbers here in a second. Let's see what Alvarez. Alvarez last night, he was right in the middle of the bases loaded. No out three strikeouts.00:08:42 He is, so far this year, Alvarez is, he was 0 for 4 last night. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. He was 1 for 4 last night. But so far this year, he's hitting .237 in 97 at-bats. He's got one home run. Alvarez is supposed to have some pop in his back. That's what he liked about Alvarez. He came for some power from the catching position. He's got eight RBIs. His OPS is only .620. 6.20 is borderline minor league OPS.00:09:11 Like, get sent down to the minors. And, you know, when you put in Terrens, I just feel like, I don't know, I just feel like I trust Terrens more. He's better, but he seems better behind the plate. Last night, he almost, Alvarez almost threw that ball down the right field line when he tried to throw behind the runner, which would have been a big play. Luckily for him, Pete made a nice play and kept it in front of him. But, you know, I don't know. Alvarez, he seems to have dropped off for me.00:09:39 Since he got hurt last year in the middle of the year, toward the end of the middle of the year, I should say, he got hurt. He hasn't been the same player. And then he got hurt again this year. And he just doesn't have power. He's got one home run and 100 at-bats. That's not going to cut it. That is absolutely not going to cut it. I mean, Terrens has basically the same numbers, but I feel like he's better behind the plate. Terrens in, hold on, where is it?00:10:08 He's got 100 at-bats, so only three more at-bats. He's got seven runs scored. He's hitting 250. So he's better on the average. He's got 11 RBI, 13 walks. Those are basically the same numbers. And he's better behind the plate. The Mets are getting no production out of their catching position. When we expected to have Alvarez, who is a 20, 25 home run guy. Or so we thought. So far, not this year. He's looking more like a five home run guy. So that could be an issue.00:10:37 But listen, there's not much to complain about here. We're not going to sit and bitch and moan about Alvarez when the Mets are winning all these games. And there's 16 games over 500, two and a half ahead of the Phillies. And they got two more against the Rockies tonight and tomorrow. And then they go home for three against the Nationals, three against the Tampa Bay Rays coming up, both at Citi Field. So that's looking good. We're in good shape. Like I said, pitching's been excellent.00:11:07 You get Lindor, Alonzo, and now Soto's coming along and playing real well. And it's going well. Clay Holmes tonight on the mound going for his seventh win, 3.07 ERA. He's going up against Palmquist, who's 0-4, 8.5 ERA. Listen, you look at some of the ERAs on these Rockies and the White Sox. They're in bad shape. Pitches are usually 0-6 or 0-4 or 0-5. With a 9 ERA, something like that. So it has been going good.00:11:35 But Lindor, not playing yet. I don't want to see him pinch hitting too much. Right? Get better. We don't need that to be like a nagging thing going forward the rest of the summer. His toe, it's inflamed. He's not feeling well. He's got pain. Sitting out games. Just thanks for last night. Don't get me wrong. That was a big one. But we don't need to see him coming off the bench. Although he has been decent coming off the bench in his career. He's 3-for-8 with five RBIs as a pinch hitter.00:12:04 So, and we said Marte. We are, you know, Marte's, I think, a perfect role for Marte. If he can find a spot on that bench to come off the bench and get big pinch hits, I think the Mets are going to be in good shape. And Alvarez, listen, Alvarez got to get it going. Got to get it going. So the Mets and the Rockies tonight at 940 is the first game. Playholms going in for the, going for the seventh win of the season.00:12:32 I mean, listen, you could put 10 guys for the Mets on the All-Star team. We were talking about that the other day. The All-Star, Alonzo's going to be in. Lindor, you know, is going to be in. Right? Soto's probably going to get voted in. And is that the only three? I mean, you could put any of these. Diaz probably deserves a spot on the team. So, I mean, they just won after another with this team. It's been fantastic. And it's a great start. We'll take it.00:12:59 And they're playing through an easy part of their schedule with, you know, it's kind of peppered with Dodger series. Because you got the Rockies and the White Sox and the Dodgers and then the Rockies again. And then the Dodgers. And then it's the Nets and the Rays. All bad teams except the Dodgers who are peppered in there for a couple of series. And the Mets have played well. They took the season series. And they just keep soaring, you know, higher and higher. And they can really put, you know, a good amount of distance between them and the Phillies.00:13:30 During this, you know, stretch. Up until, you know, maybe the middle of June. And then they'll play them head to head. And they got the Braves coming in. And the Braves just, the Braves are just falling out of it. It's amazing. It really is. So, Lindor will be on the bench tonight. Hopefully the Mets could just, you know, make this an easier one. You gotta, you gotta, uh, get, start hitting with runners in scoring position. Two outs. Can't leave the, you can't leave 12 men on the bases.00:13:59 They expect to beat many teams besides the Rockies. So, they got lucky last night. Listen, the other guys in the lineup got a hit. Beatty's got a hit. Beatty's cooled off here. You got Mauricio who finally got a hit last night. That was good to see. Because last time, remember he came up a couple years ago when his first, the first time he came up. And he was just killing it. He was getting multiple hit games. Stealing bases. Making great plays in the field. And we were like, oh, we got, you know, here we go. We got Mike Schmidt. Came up this time. Got humbled a bit. He was 0 for 11. Got a double last night.00:14:29 And of course, the Mets, you know, they left him on base. But that was good to see. So, hopefully he kind of now breaks out. We'll see what he does there. And there's really not many bad things to say about the Mets right now as we, you know, hit the summer. And get really this season going. We're more of a third of the way through. It's the 65th game. The Mets are 16 games over 500. They're going to, you'll see, they're going to cruise through 20 games. And there'll be 25 games over 500.00:14:57 And I think they could cruise to a division championship. I don't want to say it like that because, you know, one, it'll jinx it too. Phillies are a good team. Phillies are going to start playing better again. And we saw how quickly they could close the gap. So, I mean, it went from five games to, oh, no, the Phillies have just passed us. They were three games ahead. So, the Mets are two and a half ahead. Let's see if they could keep winning the Phillies, maybe drop off a bit. And that's it. So, enjoy Belmont Stakes Day today.00:15:26 No Triple Crown this year. It's raining. See how many people they have out there. Journalism, right? Is that the horse's name? Journalism is the favorite. So, it should be a good day out if you're headed out to the track. And then coming home to the NBA Finals and the Mets tonight, 940. First pitch, Clay Holmes going against Carson Palmquist. You can hear the game on 880 Mets Odyssey Radio.00:15:51 You can see the game on, I believe it's on SMY tonight, Gary and Keith. And that'll do it. So, Mets win last night. They go to try and take the series. They try to take their 14th series of the season. They try to go 15 games over 500. It's the 1,000th game played for Juan Soto. And we gave you those numbers. Listen, Ted Williams and Frank Thomas. When you start talking about someone like that, they're going to be okay.00:16:20 1,000 games is a big sample size. It's not 100 games or 50 games. You're talking 10 years almost. Or 8 years. So, that'll do it for me here. Mets Extra presented by Locked Up Sports. Don't forget to hit the QR code. Take a picture of that QR code that's been popping up down there in the bottom left corner. That will take you to our website. The page where you can follow our show. You can follow it on wherever you listen. Whether it be Apple or Spotify or YouTube. Or you want to connect to our social medias. It's all right there. Just hit the QR code.00:16:50 Just take a picture of that. And head on over there and take care of that. Don't forget to leave us a review. Tell your friends. And that does it for me. From the Brian Gunzel Studios. Enjoy the game tonight, everybody. I'm Bob Walters. See ya! If you enjoy the show, make sure to let everyone know by leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts. Or on our website at LockedUpSports.net. Remember, you can also find us on your favorite social media site.00:17:19 On Twitter, at LockedUpSports. On the gram, at Locked underscore up underscore sports. Join our Facebook group, LockedUpSports. Or on TikTok, at LockedUpSportsShow. Now you can catch all the latest from LockedUpSports anytime. Thanks for listening.