For seven innings, the Mets’ bats were mostly silent on a chilly, damp night at Citi Field. Former Mets starting pitcher Chris Bassitt, who’s already in the third and final year of the deal he signed with the Blue Jays after his lone season with the Mets, shut them out through six-and-two-thirds innings. But the Mets turned a late 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 win thanks in large part to Jesse Winker and a walk-off sac fly by Francisco Lindor.
Toronto got on the board with a run in the fifth despite being presented with an opportunity to score a whole lot more. Mets starter Griffin Canning put up four scoreless innings, but he threw quite a few pitches before took the mound to start the fifth inning. After giving up back-to-back singles, Canning was lifted in favor of José Butto.
Butto gave up a single to Vladimir Guerror Jr., hardly the worst thing a pitcher could do in that situation, and proceeded to issue a one-out walk to load the bases. He didn’t break, though, as he notched a strikeout and induced a ground out to get through the inning with minimal damage.
The Blue Jays scored their second run in the sixth, as Butto went back out there to pitch the inning and quickly got the first and second outs. But back-to-back two-out doubles by Alan Roden and Bo Bichette plated a run, and Carlos Mendoza turned to Huascar Brazobán.
You really couldn’t have dreamed up a better start to the 2025 season for Brazobán, whose outings have made his poor performance after joining the Mets last summer feel like a distant memory. Brazobán got the out to get the Mets out of the sixth, and he went on to throw two more innings. He gave up just one hit, recorded one strikeout, and didn’t walk anybody.
And that brings us to the bottom of the eighth inning, which started with Mets leadoff hitter Francisco Lindor drawing a four-pitch walk. Juan Soto singled, and Lindor advanced to second base. The Mets were in business.
Pete Alonso struck out, and Brandon Nimmo flew out to center field. The latter out allowed Lindor to move up to third, but it felt like the Mets’ best opportunity of the night might slip away, just as the Jays’ best one had earlier in the game.
Jesse Winker had something to say about that, though. Having already doubled and—in part thanks to a misplay by George Springer in right field—tripled in the game, Winker smoked a line drive to right field again. On a different night, it may very well have been a three-run home run, but tonight, it had just enough in it to make it to the fence. Springer almost got to it, but he didn’t—and hit the wall awkwardly, hurting himself to the point that he was removed from the game. Winker raced to third base again, and Lindor and Soto scored easily to tie the game.
Edwin Diaz threw a scoreless—but eventful—top of the ninth, striking out the first batter he faced before giving up a pair of singles. The second of those came on a slowly-chopped ball up the middle, and Díaz tipped it with his glove rather than allowing it to go straight to Lindor at shortstop for a possible out.
With runners on first and second and just one out, Díaz struck out Anthony Santander, but he threw a wild pitch in the process that moved the runners up to second and third. That wasn’t a problem, as he struck out Andrés Giménez to send the game to the bottom of the ninth with the score still tied.
Jose Siri drew a one-out walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Luis Torrens singled to left field, but Siri had to hold up long enough between second and third that sending him home wouldn’t have made sense. After a pitching change, Francisco Lindor smoked a line drive to center field, easily deep enough for Siri to tag up and score, giving Lindor a walk-off sac fly.
This Mets team is already incredibly fun to watch, they’ve got a 5-3 record on the season, and tomorrow afternoon, they’ll attempt to complete a sweep of the Blue Jays.
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Box scores
Win Probability Added
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Big Mets winner: Jesse Winker, +51.2% WPA
Big Mets loser: Pete Alonso, -21.0% WPA
Mets pitchers: +20.1% WPA
Mets hitters: +29.9% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Jesse Winker hits a two-run triple in the eighth, +43.7% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Bo Bichette hits an RBI double in the sixth, -12.8% WPA
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