Mets snap 12-game losing streak but lose Francisco Lindor to injury in a 3-2 win over Twins

But the rest of the night wasn’t easy. It’s the Mets, so it can never be easy.

Even as Clay Holmes kept the Twins off the scoreboard, the Mets were unable to mount any consistent offense against left-hander Connor Prielipp, who was making his MLB debut. Holmes was great for the Mets, yet again. A lone bright spot in an otherwise disappointing start to the season. On the night, Holmes allowed two runs on five hits in seven innings while walking one and striking out three. It lowered his season ERA to 2.12, but he has just two wins to show for it. Tonight was not one of those wins.

Early on, Prielipp mostly matched Holmes. The rookie struck out the side in the second and then set the Mets down in order in the third. Prielipp displayed a 96 mph fastball that he kept up in the zone well all night and a solid changeup that he buried low in the zone. On the night, he allowed two runs on four hits in four innings, but also struck out six and kept the Twins in the game long enough for the offense to get to Holmes a little bit.

Trevor Larnach smoked a double down the first base line to start the fourth inning. After he moved to third on a Josh Bell groundout, Larnach scored when Victor Caratini smoked a lineout to center field, and Luis Robert’s throw was way up the third base line.

Still, the Mets responded. This night was going to be different. Lindor smoked a one-out single off the glove of Royce Lewis and into left field. He rounded the base hard, thinking about going for two, but ultimately held up. On the very next pitch, Francisco Alvarez hit a double into the gap in right center, and Lindor raced around from first base to score and put the Mets up one. After he slid in safely at home, Lindor stayed down on the dirt for a few seconds before slowly walking off the field. When the Mets went back into the field in the fifth inning, Lindor was not out there. It was Bo Bichette at shortstop and Brett Baty at third base.

Calf tightness was the announcement made to the press room.

"I knew right away when he was running third base that something wasn't right there," said Mendoza. "He wasn't running the way he normally does. I knew something was up because it wasn't because he thought it was an easy play at the plate, you know, and right away you could see his face walking towards the dugout. I knew something wasn't right."

Lindor left the game and was not in the clubhouse after the final pitch, but his teammates couldn't focus on losing another star player yet. There was a game to win. Only, things didn’t get much better once Lindor was forced from the game.

Byron Buxton launched a massive solo home run in the sixth inning, his fifth of the season, to tie the game. Then the Mets sent batters up to bat in their half of the sixth. They put together two walks and a double, but they didn’t score because Mark Vientos ran through a clear stop sign on Marcus Semien’s double and was easily thrown out at the plate.

"He just went through the stop sign," said Mendoza after the game. For his part, Vientos didn't offer a different take.

"I was just following my instincts," he explained after the game. "Once I saw the ball that was hit off the wall, I was like, I'm gonna go score on that. [Tim Leiper] gave me the stop sign, but I followed my instincts, and I went home." When asked to clarify, he repeated, "I saw the stop sign, but, like I said, I was following my instincts."

Fortunately for Vientos. He would get another chance.

In the top of the eighth inning, Mets reliever Brooks Raley got two outs but allowed two base runners, so Mendoza called on Luke Weaver to get his team out of the mess. Weaver walked the first batter he faced to load the bases with two outs.

"No one can really replicate jogging in [from the bullpen," Weaver explained. "It just feels rushed. Everything's kind of heightened a little bit. It's about calming the heart rate and getting settled in as quickly as possible. I didn't quite do that as well early, but then I'm also not trying to just down the middle of the plate either, right?"

So with the bases loaded and another potential loss looming, the fans at Citi Field tried to will the team on with a “Let's Go Mets” chant. It was feeble at first, but when Weaver got two strikes on Luke Keaschall, the crowd all rose to their feet. They needed this. Weaver delivered, inducing an inning-ending foul pop-up to Alvarez by the first base dugout.

In the bottom of the inning, Soto laced an RBI single in the 8th but was caught stealing a few pitches later. He finished 1-for-3 with a walk on the day, but it seemed like the chance at a rally had ended with him getting picked up. Yet, back-to-back walks to Baty and Francisco Alvarez brought Vientos up with two outs and the game tied. He got jammed but was able to bloop a single into right field to bring Baty around to score. It was Vientos' only hit of the night, but it was a big one, as he finished 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI and has now hit safelt in four of his last five games.

"I'm glad he got that hit," joked Mendoza when asked about the baserunning decision at third base.

Despite all the pressure that has been building over the 12-game losing streak, the Mets dugout knew that they still had work left to do: "It felt like, let's just go win this thing," explained Weaver. "It was really refreshing. Then for me, there was no ounce of celebrating, because what if we're celebrating something, and I screw it up? There's no time for that. So I just made sure that my celebrating came after."

He did get his chance. Weaver gave up one infield single in the ninth inning but struck out all three other batters he faced. When he struck out Byron Buxton to end the game, he stood on the mound almost motionless, as if he was unsure what would happen next. He pounded his fist into his glove softly once, looked up at the sky, and then went to greet his teammates.

"It was a sigh of relief," he explained after the game. "I don't want to say there was a lot of weight, right?...I think we have pushed so hard to simply try to give everything we can. But the harder you try, a lot of times, the more you fail."

Even though Vientos claims he wasn't trying to score because of any pressure to will this team to a win, the angst they felt at not being able to pull out a victory was clear.

"It's a crazy thing," said Holmes after the game. "Things start spinning. It's a lot going on...When you feel like you're doing the right things, you evaluate things, you look around, and people are doing what you should be doing, and really want to reach for something to do. But you're doing everything you should be doing."

"I think it's just relaxing," echoed Weaver. "Understanding what you do well, staying within yourself, and at the end of the day, just keep hoping and just keep doing your thing."

"You have to stay positive," affirmed Mendoza. "You can't come to the ballpark and then expect the worst, even when you are going through a very rough stretch. You come to the ballpark expecting good things to happen. It doesn't matter how hard it is and how things are unfolding, your mindset has got to be to expect something good to happen for us, whether it happens or not. But those are the expectations here."

With those lofty expectations, it feels strange that a team could be so happy while improving its record to 8-16.

"Winning is fun, you know?" said Holmes, which was followed by a loud "Woooo" from another corner of the clubhouse.

"It's not very often when you have such a talented team where everything just doesn't really click in the right way," said Weaver. "It's quite an impossible feat, but we made it possible. At the end of the day, we're going to use this as a learning point and hopefully a catalyst for the future."

Unfortunately, that immediate future, even in the joyous wake of breaking their losing streak, may be one in which the Mets are without their star shortstop for a long period of time.