For nearly eight innings Saturday, the Mets squandered scoring opportunity after scoring opportunity.
They started 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left a runner stranded at third base in three of the first seven frames.
But the Mets would not be denied.
Francisco Lindor’s walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth capped an improbable 3-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays at Citi Field.
Jose Siri scored the winning run, giving Lindor the seventh walk-off RBI of his career.
Lindor’s heroics against Blue Jays reliever Jeff Hoffman followed an eighth-inning rally in which Jesse Winker’s two-run triple tied the score.
Many of the Mets’ missed chances before that point came against Toronto starter Chris Bassitt, a one-time Met, who hurled 6.2 shutout innings with nine strikeouts, deploying an eight-pitch mix that elicited 11 swings and misses.
Lindor led off the bottom of the first with a double against Bassitt, and he moved to third base on a deep fly out by Juan Soto. But Bassitt struck Pete Alonso out for the second out, then escaped the jam when Brandon Nimmo grounded out to second.
In the bottom of the third, Mark Vientos’ inning-ending strikeout stranded Winker, who had tripled with two outs.
In the seventh, pinch hitter Starling Marte grounded back to reliever Yimi García for the third out, leaving the bases loaded.
The bottom of the eighth inning threatened to be more of the same after Alonso struck out and Nimmo flew out with two runners on base.
But Winker finally delivered the clutch hit that had eluded the Mets.
Winker lined a two-run triple against reliever Brendon Little off of the right-field wall, tying the score, 2-2. Blue Jays right fielder George Springer collided with the wall as he attempted to catch Winker’s drive and, after receiving medical attention, had to leave the game.
Winker entered Saturday with three triples in his nine-year career and had not hit one since 2021.
Vientos then had a chance to give the Mets the lead, but he struck out for the third out of the eighth, again stranding Winker at third.
The late-inning drama capped a game that was scoreless through four.
Mets starter Griffin Canning traded zeroes with Bassitt early, but he exited after surrendering back-to-back singles to Alan Roden and Bo Bichette to begin the top of the fifth.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. then opened the scoring with an RBI single against Mets reliever Jose Butto, giving the Jays a 1-0 lead.
Mets fans had given Guerrero a hearty cheer before Friday’s home opener in a nod to the slugger’s impending free agency. Rumors connecting the Mets to Guerrero, a four-time All-Star, ramped up this spring after he and the Blue Jays failed to reach a contract extension.
Recent reports, however, suggest the Blue Jays may be gaining momentum toward a new mega-deal. While Guerrero declined to weigh in on his contract status Friday, he also downplayed the significance of the cheers at Citi Field.
“To be honest with you, that’s normal for me,” Guerrero said through an interpreter. “I never have been booed in any other stadium. Everybody always has been nice to me everywhere I go.”
The Mets won Friday’s series opener, 5-0.
They will go for the three-game sweep on Sunday, with David Peterson (1-0, 3.00 ERA) set to pitch for the Mets and Bowden Francis (1-0, 3.00 ERA) scheduled to start for Toronto.
