CINCINNATI — Steve Cohen endorsed a fan idea Saturday to welcome Francisco Lindor back to Citi Field later this week with a standing ovation. Mets fans and the Mets owner suggested coaxing the shortstop out of his funk with cheers rather than raining boos down upon him.
Maybe such an act won’t be needed. Maybe the applause can be a tribute to a star player who found his way out of a slump.
For the first time in this short season, Lindor showed life — and power — in a 3-1 victory over the Reds at Great American Ball Park, where the Mets won their first series of the season.
The Mets (3-6) begin a series in Atlanta on Monday with momentum and perhaps with an All-Star shortstop who is returning to form.
Lindor entered play 1-for-31 in eight games, sporting a rarely seen .032 batting average. It took four innings for him to add two more hits to the ledger, with a first-inning double and fourth-inning home run for his first two extra-base hits of the season.
Facing lefty Andrew Abbott in the first, Lindor helped give the Mets an early lead they would not surrender with a double down the third-base line. With two outs, he scored on a funky and Reds-aided single from Francisco Alvarez, who hit a ground ball between first and second base that prompted Abbott to cover first. Second baseman Santiago Espinal threw wildly of Abbott, enabling Alvarez to reach and Lindor to score.
The Mets scored a second run — this one of the Little League variety — in the second, when they loaded the bases on two bunts and a walk before Brandon Nimmo got drilled with a pitch.
In the fourth, the righty-swinging Lindor smoked a high Abbott fastball 368 feet to left for a solo shot that gave the Mets their final run.
Lindor’s 2-for-5 day provided the Mets offense camouflage on an afternoon the group left eight runners on base, including leaving the bases loaded in the second and third innings. But Lindor came through a couple of times and the Mets’ pitching did the rest, holding the Reds to three hits.
Sean Manaea, who has been the best Mets pitcher for two turns through the rotation, held the Reds to one run in five innings. His only blemish arrived in the fourth, when Espinal’s sacrifice fly scored a run. But with the bases loaded and one out, Manaea induced a ground ball from Bubba Thompson that turned into a double play.
Jorge Lopez got the job done in the sixth, when he stranded Elly De La Cruz at third by striking out Espinal.
After that, Brooks Raley, Adam Ottavino and Edwin Diaz — all pitching for a third time in four days — combined for three scoreless innings. Diaz’s save was his second of the series and season, important for the Mets and for a friendly bet he has struck with Reds closer Alexis Diaz. The brother who records fewer saves in head-to-head action will have to buy the entire family dinner.
Edwin two, Alexis zero.
