It was a rat. It was a raccoon. It was a possum. It was whatever. At the end of this saga, as various Mets types stressed both late Friday night and Saturday afternoon, the sideshow matters far less than the result.
To that end, who knew rodents could be so galvanizing? A day after Francisco Lindor and Jeff McNeil insisted that their clubhouse kerfuffle was about nothing more than the identity of a four-legged clubhouse visitor, it was of course those two who played the most significant roles in the Mets’ 4-2 victory over the D-backs at Citi Field on Saturday. McNeil cracked a two-run homer, stole a base and scored two runs, while Lindor reached base three times, swiped a bag, scored a run and drove home another.
Since creating a commotion in the clubhouse tunnel during the seventh inning of Friday’s game, Lindor and McNeil have combined to go 5-for-11 with a walk, two home runs, four runs scored, two steals and five RBIs, accounting for nearly all of New York’s offense.
Most of it occurred Saturday, as the Mets steadily backed a quintet of pitchers with enough run support to win their fourth straight game. Tommy Hunter started and threw two scoreless innings, before Joey Lucchesi and Jeurys Familia combined to deliver five more in relief. Trevor May came on to secure his first save of the year in the ninth.
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Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].