Lindor's Three-Run Blast Buries Cleveland as Mets Roll 13-6

Francisco Lindor's seventh-inning home run to right — 383 feet, three runs — swung Cleveland's win probability from 31% to 7% and effectively ended any suspense. New York pounded out a 13-6 final, with three Mets finishing the night with a home run, three RBI, or both.

Cleveland drew first blood in the first inning when a Martínez single to center scored DeLauter and Ramírez, staking the home side to a 2-0 lead. New York answered immediately and emphatically. Marcus Semien crushed a solo shot to left center at 392 feet in the second, and two batters later Luis Torrens went the other way — 366 feet to right — with Wagaman aboard, flipping the score to 3-2 Mets. New York kept pressing in the third: Carson Benge tripled to center to score Robert Jr., then Semien added a sacrifice fly to push the lead to 5-2. A Jared Young single in the fifth made it 6-2, and the Mets looked to be cruising.

Then Cleveland made it interesting. Nathaniel Lowe launched a 413-foot three-run shot to right in the fifth, scoring DeLauter and Ramírez, and suddenly it was 6-5. Nolan McLean had allowed 8 hits and 5 earned runs over 5.0 innings — enough to keep New York ahead, but not enough to put the game away. The tension held through the sixth. Then Lindor stepped in during the seventh with Young and Torrens on base and hit a 383-foot home run to right, scoring both runners and pushing the lead to 9-5. That swing moved Cleveland's win probability from 31% to 7%. The game was over in everything but the formality.

The eighth inning turned into a full-on pile-on. An Alvarez double scored Robert Jr., then a Young walk scored Benge, then a Torrens walk scored Alvarez, and finally a Bichette infield single to third scored Semien — four runs on four plate appearances, all without a hard-hit ball required. New York scored four times in the eighth to reach 13-5 before Cleveland added a consolation run in the ninth on a DeLauter single. The story of the night was the Mets' top of the order: Semien went 3-for-4 with a homer, 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored; Benge went 3-for-6 with 2 runs; and Torrens, Lindor, and Semien each drove in three. Out of the bullpen, Nate Lavender and Kodai Senga each tossed a scoreless inning with two strikeouts apiece — the kind of clean relief work that looks even better when your offense has already done the heavy lifting.