NEW YORK — For as pleasant as the contributions of the Mets’ younger hitters have been the past two days at Citi Field, this offense will not — cannot — return to prime form until Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso do the same.
Wednesday, perhaps, marked the beginning of that trend. Lindor snapped a career-worst 0-for-31 streak with a two-hit performance, and Alonso added a three-run homer to key a 6-3 victory and a series sweep of the Angels. The Mets have won four in a row overall.
Even at the start of that run, some concern shadowed Lindor, who has been prone to lengthy hitless streaks throughout his career. As the fruitless at-bats began piling up, Lindor spent copious time in the cage and taking extra batting practice on the field.
A breakthrough finally came in the third inning, when Lindor pulled a go-ahead RBI single to left off Angels left-hander Jake Eder. Two batters later, Alonso busted an 0-for-13 skid with a three-run homer into the second deck in left. Those two finished with five RBIs, after combining for one in the Mets’ previous seven games.
The offense made a winner of starting pitcher Sean Manaea, who contributed five innings of one-run ball, while Edwin Díaz recorded the final four outs for the save.
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