NEW YORK — For the rising Mets, a four-game series against reigning National League West champions Giants provided a significant preseason test. So far they have passed. Francisco Lindor hit a walk-off single in the 10th inning of Game 1 of a doubleheader Tuesday to give the Mets a 5-4 win and second-best record (8-3) in baseball.
The Mets nearly gave up the go-ahead run at the top of 10th, but in a key game, Pete Alonso kept his foot on the first base pocket to stem an errant Lindor throw. That ended the half-inning and gave the Mets a chance to end things. With runners in the corners and an out on Jarlin García, Lindor sliced a single back down the middle and hit Brandon Nimmo with the winning run.
“[Lindor] seems to do what we need to do every time,” said manager Buck Showalter.
For the first time this season, Mets starter Tylor Megill appeared mortal, allowing four runs over the first three innings when his maximum fastball speed plummeted in the mid-’90s. But he rallied to end his afternoon with three straight innings scoreless and ensure the Mets’ numerous late rallies would matter.
“Obviously it didn’t start out so well, but towards the end I settled in really well,” said Megill. “That’s what it’s about, the team is just crunching at bats. … Look what happened. We came back and won.”
The first of those rallies came in the fifth inning when Travis Jankowski knocked out a potential double-play ball to keep the pressure on Giants starter Alex Cobb. James McCann, Jeff McNeil and Lindor all followed with two base hits to level the game.