Lindor wins it for Mets in 10th vs Giants

NEW YORK (AP) — Pete Alonso had Francisco Lindor's back. Then he tried to take his shirt.

It's no stretch to say Alonso earned the souvenir.

Lindor lined a walk-off single in the 10th after a big reach by Alonso bailed him out in the top of the inning, and the New York Mets beat the San Francisco Giants 5-4 Tuesday to open a doubleheader.

Lindor, who also had a tying double in the fifth, ripped a clean single to center against Jarlín García (1-1), scoring automatic runner Brandon Nimmo from third. He was mobbed by teammates in the infield, with Alonso trying to rip off his uniform.

A half-inning earlier, Lindor's throw on Thairo Estrada's grounder pulled the first baseman off the bag, apparently allowing Brandon Belt to score from third with two outs.

Replays showed Alonso just barely held the base with his right foot — Alonso jumped for joy when a freeze frame appeared on the video board — and umpires overruled the safe call. The grab kept Adam Ottavino (1-0) in line for the win.

“Pete staying on the bag there, that’s a really hard play,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said. “We’re lucky to have the best replay guy in the business in our guy (Harrison Friedland). So that was a good play.”

Lindor lifted his average to .289 with nine RBIs in 11 games — a strong start for the $341 million man's second season in Queens.

“Linny seems to be dealing us what we need about every time,” Showalter said.

Two of baseball's best teams early this season, the Mets (8-3) and Giants (7-3) were each set to play at least 18 innings in one day for the first time since 2019. Pandemic-era seven-inning doubleheaders are gone, but automatic runners in extra innings remain.

The Mets nearly ended it in the ninth, when Giants closer Camilo Doval