LOS ANGELES — Francisco Lindor had all of five hits in 55 at-bats as a left-handed hitter this season when he came to the plate in Friday’s seventh inning.
The Mets had already flushed a four-run lead to the Dodgers, with shoddy defense as a significant factor, but now were in position to strike following a Mookie Betts throwing error.
Daniel Hudson threw Lindor a hanging slider.
Lindor, his lefty-swinging woes be damned, crushed it into the Hollywood night and turned toward the first-base dugout in celebration as he ran.
Lindor’s go-ahead, two-run homer helped catapult the Mets to a 9-4 victory at Dodger Stadium.
The Mets extended their winning streak to five games and have won 11 of 14 since opening the season with five straight losses.
But this one came with a casualty: Francisco Alvarez departed the game in the second inning with a left thumb injury after stumbling while running the bases.
The Mets had no immediate update on the catcher.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who spurned the Mets’ $325 million offer over the winter to take a deal for the same amount from the Dodgers, struggled early before rebounding to get through the sixth.
The right-hander allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits with one walk and nine strikeouts.
After Lindor’s blast, the Mets added on in the eighth, receiving a two-run single from Starling Marte.
In the ninth, DJ Stewart contributed an RBI single — he homered earlier.
The offensive heroes also included Harrison Bader, who finished 4-for-5 with an RBI.
Two errors by Joey Wendle in the sixth helped the Dodgers tie it 4-4 against Reed Garrett.
The rally started with Wendle (who is subbing at third base with Brett Baty still bothered by hamstring tightness) booting Will Smith’s grounder.
With one out, Wendle fielded Enrique Hernandez’s grounder and threw wildly to second base in a fielder’s choice attempt. Garrett plunked Andy Pages to load the bases before Chris Taylor snapped an 0-for-31 with a two-run single.
Sean Manaea handled a dangerous lineup, limiting the Dodgers to two earned runs on four hits with three walks and three strikeouts.
It followed a clunker against the Royals in which the lefty surrendered six earned runs over 3 ²/₃ innings.
Stewart pounced on a first-pitch fastball from Yamamoto in the second and cleared the right-field fence for his third homer of the season.
But the Mets weren’t finished in the inning.
Alvarez reached second on a swinging bunt that catcher Smith threw away and scored on Bader’s RBI single.
Pages mishandled the pickup on Bader’s single, negating any play he might have had at the plate.
But Alvarez was removed from the game for the bottom of the inning with a left thumb injury.
Alvarez had stumbled rounding first base in his previous at-bat, and the thumb jammed into the ground.
Alvarez injured the thumb behind the plate on Wednesday, when he was called for a catcher’s interference against the Pirates on a swing.
The Mets extended their lead against Yamamoto to 4-0 in the third inning.
Brandon Nimmo walked leading off and Marte crushed a double off the left-field fence, giving the Mets runners on second and third.
After Lindor was retired, Pete Alonso delivered an RBI single and Stewart hit a long drive to center for a sacrifice fly.
Manaea allowed a run in the fourth on Teoscar Hernandez’s RBI single after Shohei Ohtani walked leading off.
Manaea recorded two outs before Hernandez delivered.
The Mets wasted an opportunity in the bottom of the inning, leaving Bader and Wendle at second and third as Yamamoto struck out Nimmo and Marte in succession to escape trouble.
Ohtani sliced the Mets’ lead to 4-2 with an RBI single in the fifth. Pages singled leading off the inning and Taylor walked, starting the rally.
