File photo/TheNYExtra.com
When I hear people talk about great players in the sport, I rarely hear the name of Francisco Lindor and that is just not right. He comes to play everyday and is an incredible run producer that needs to be in the MVP conversation. In fact, if I was building a team from scratch, I would start with his name on my roster.
He is a winner in EVERY sense of the word and is the biggest reason why the Mets are in a wild card playoff race. And giving the Mets a huge win over a team they are chasing in the Wild Card playoff race He proved that at Petco Park smashing a grand slam and adding in a second solo homer to put this game out of reach for the Padres.
Another big part of the story is southpaw David Peterson who keeps giving the Mets ace-like performances upping his record to 8-1. His ERA has gone below the 3.00 mark at 2.96–an earned run average few pitchers in the sport can match. But beyond the numbers, he has a will to win that every ace needs. On this night, he hurled seven innings of one-run ball before handing it over to the bullpen. He has an incredible ability to leave runners stranded and is not afraid to challenge hitters with stuff that leaves opposing players shaking their heads when they leave the batter’s box.
The win pushes the Mets to 69-62 and they will try to take 3 of 4 from the Padres with Jose Quintana on the hill. The Met southpaw has struggled a bit lately but in talking to him he told that he has to throw more strikes which will get him ahead of hitters lessening the chance of big innings.
As a team the Mets started this tough stretch playing elite teams with playoff goals and are 4-2 in those first 6 games. And that is a great start with Sunday’s game dictating whether they win or split this series with the Padres before they head for 3 in Arizona versus the Diamondbacks.
And if Francisco Lindor has anything to say about he would simply say “lets go get them guys.”
