After recent long hitting slump, Mets star Francisco Lindor hopes to build off strides with swing
SAN FRANCISCO AP Francisco Lindor ran around the bases at Oracle Park with his right arm raised high after a third-inning home run He celebrated the same way again when he doubled in the ninth as the Bay Area mist swirled just above And who could have blamed the Mets star for showing specific delight and emotion big hits have been hard to come by since before the All-Star break During his contemporary hitting slump Lindor leaned on everyone around him He listened thoughtfully to anybody in his supportive village offering encouragement or thoughts about what might be going on with his swing or approach So when the shortstop delivered three hits in New York s - win over the Giants on Friday night it sure felt sweet I got rhythm and I feel good Lindor declared afterward I did what I needed to do nowadays Now it s a matter of building a few momentum and repeating what worked The -year-old had snapped an -for- hitless stretch against the Angels on Wednesday that began with an -for- performance at Kansas City on July It hasn t been one single voice providing Lindor with advice during the struggles of late He offered shout outs to coaches Rafael Fernandez Eric Chavez and Jeremy Barnes for their crucial words There s a lot of people here supporting me and helping me he revealed There s been a lot of people A lot of people have come around me and tapped me on the back and mentioned keep going When we re winning games and we ve got little speeches at the end it s good On Friday Lindor finished for with his th home run the double and three runs scored with a pair of strikeouts The feel at the plate was coming and going during his six-game funk He hopes to rediscover specific consistency for the second-half push after going for the past two games entering Saturday night s middle contest in San Francisco It was one of those where it s just like it would work and feel good and then it disappears Lindor shared It s just human nature when you go through tough times you rely on people around you and just hope that you get one or two hits And if not if the unit wins the nights are a bit shorter Manager Carlos Mendoza is encouraged by Lindor s progress A sign for Mendoza is how Lindor hits to all parts of the field saying that s when he s at his best He lined a single to center field off Logan Webb in the first inning before pulling a mph four-seam fastball to right for the -foot home run in the third He doubled down the left-field line in the ninth facing flame-throwing reliever Camilo Doval That two-out hit kept the inning going and New York tacked on two more runs You look at that last at-bat against Doval and he s able to drive the ball the other way like that that s when he s at his best Mendoza explained Various really good signs and it s good to have him feeling that way Lindor is far from content So back to the batting cage he will go You can only put your head down and work as hard as you can he commented and see what happens AP MLB https apnews com hub mlb Source
