Francisco Lindor, would-be MVP, once again the hero for the never-say-die Mets
Shohei Ohtani did unhuman things on the offensive side this year, but if there was any doubt who the MVP of people's hearts is in the NL, they were quieted last night when he fired up the home crowd.
Francisco Lindor, who two weeks ago wasn't even sure he would play again this year due to back spasms, once again was the hero Thursday, his sixth-inning grand slam the winner in the Mets' 4-1 win that sent the Mets onto their first NLCS since 2015.
"Pretty high," Lindor said when asked where the homer ranks in his career moments. "Pretty high, because this is a home run to send us to a big place, you know, which is the National League Championship. So, yeah, it's hard to rank them from 1 to 10, but it's pretty high, for sure."
In both of the first two innings, the Mets loaded the bases, but Ranger Suarez escaped trouble, and Jeff Hoffman got out of a first-and-second, no-out jam in the fifth. But Hoffman loaded 'em up again in the sixth, and after Carlos Estevez relieved him with one out…Lindor cleared 'em.
"I was just trying to get a good pitch in the zone. I felt like I got a good one early and I missed it," Lindor said. "I was just trying to do what the other boys did, which is get on base. They did an amazing job.
So I was just trying to do that."
In a season filled with Grimace, OMG, Hawk Tuah and more, there was no doubt in the dugout, or in the stands, that the guy who would be MVP if not for a historic Ohtani season was gonna come through, just as he did to help the Mets clinch a Wild Card berth and win the Wild Card series.
"I love them for them believing in me. I really believe in every one of them. I believe that anybody at any given time can do something special," Lindor said, deflecting praise to his teammates. "We have a bunch of really good baseball players that can do a lot of things right. And when you focus on little things, big things can happen. My at-bat doesn't come up if it wasn't for the guys in front of me: J.D. starting the inning, Marte, Tyrone, all those guys. Alvy, even though he didn't get a base hit, but still he got on base. So, yeah, any one of us could have done it, it just worked out it was me today."
Even better: it came at home, giving the Mets their first-ever postseason series clincher at Citi Field.
"The crowd was amazing (in Games 3 and 4). They have been amazing. To do it in front of them was very special," Lindor said. "But to move on is special. To do it at home, it's cool because you get to celebrate not only with your family but also with the fans."
This is what Lindor, who had a lot of success in Cleveland, envisioned when he signed his 10-year deal with the Mets, one Steve Cohen said Wednesday night 'looks pretty damn good right now' – and yeah, he's ready for the ride to continue.
"It feels amazing to be able to continue to move forward. It's been an uphill fight, but we're still not where we want to be. We've got to continue to play the game the right way day in and day out," Lindor said. "I'm enjoying the moment. I'm living in the moment. A lot of people are asking me why I'm not reacting, why I'm not reacting to the home runs. I am reacting, you know. I'm celebrating inside. But at the end of the day, the job is not finished until we play 27 outs."
They'll have at least 108 more to go, and can head to the West Coast waiting until Friday night to find out whether they will play Game 1 of the NLCS in San Diego or Los Angeles on Sunday. They have one mission in mind and eight more wins to get there, but even with everything they've been through the last six weeks, they've now got a chance to win one more series at Citi, if not hoist two trophies.
"We enjoyed this one. We celebrate it with our families and our fan base. But, you've just got to stay the course, continue to learn day-in and day-out," Lindor said. "This road, it's been curvy, but I wouldn't want it any other way."
