Francisco Lindor, Mets find way to win after Carlos Carrasco has inefficient start – The Denver Post

So often this season, the Mets have failed to put all aspects of their game together. But Monday night at Citi Field, one element went wrong while another finally went right.

The Mets picked up an inefficient Carlos Carrasco to down the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-2 in the first game of a three-game series. Francisco Lindor went 2-for-3 with a double, two runs, a stolen base and a walk. He became the first Mets’ hitter to get at least 20 doubles, 20 home runs and 20 steals since Carlos Beltran did it in 2008. He’s now logged his third 20-20 season.

For Lindor, the milestone holds some extra meaning because it puts his name next to Beltran’s in the franchise record books. The Mets’ special advisor is a fellow Puerto Rican and was one of Lindor’s favorite players.

“It’s really cool whenever I get to be next to one of my role models that when I was growing up I tried to be like,” the shortstop said. “It’s special for sure.”

Jeff McNeil drove in two runs while Daniel Vogelbach, Jonathan Araúz and Brandon Nimmo each homered.

Carrasco minimized the damage in a shortened outing during a night when he didn’t have his best put-away pitches. The right-hander needed 88 pitches to get through only three innings and the Mets went to bullpen after he labored through the third. However, Carrasco limited the Pirates to only two runs on four hits and walked three while striking out five.

Carrasco gave up a run in the first and again in the third. Ke’Bryan Hayes doubled home Connor Joe to tie the game at 2-2 in the top of the third. Carrasco faced seven hitters in the inning, striking out Alfonso Rivas to get the final out of his night.

It was yet another confounding outing for the veteran righty.

“I’m trying to figure it out,” Carrasco said.

While his body feels good, he hasn’t been able to command his pitches throughout much of the season. It’s a frustrating pattern.

“Good game, bad game, good, OK,” Carrasco said. “I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on.”

The Mets (54-65) returned to take a lead in the bottom of the inning. Araúz took right-hander Quinn Priester deep in the fourth. The two-run shot was the infielder’s first of the season, putting the Mets up 5-2.

“I was talking to the Triple-A staff and they said Araúz will really jump a ball now and then,” Showalter said. “He’s got some pop.”

The Pirates (53-66) would let Priester go one more inning and give up one more run before going to the bullpen. Priester finished with six earned runs on seven hits in the loss (2-2).

With two outs in the sixth, Nimmo battled Osvaldo Bido for six pitches before driving a fastball over the center field fence in the seventh.

The bullpen has been the Mets’ Achilles heel all season but some of the new additions locked it down. Right-hander Tyson Miller (1-0), who was claimed off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers earlier this month and called up from Triple-A Syracuse over the weekend, threw two scoreless innings. Right-hander Sam Coonrod made his season debut, allowing a hit and a walk in one inning and right-hander Phil Bickford picked up one to set things up for Trevor Gott and Adam Ottavino.

It was a solid win for the Mets, their second in a row, and something to feel good about after a challenging weekend.

“There’s always a reason to play the game,” Lindor said. “Whether it’s to be better, whether it’s to be in the playoffs, whether it’s for your numbers, whether it’s for that young kid who saved money to watch you play. There is always a reason to play the game. No matter what, you’ve got to go out there and give it all you’ve got.”

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