CLEVELAND — Francisco Lindor gave Guardians fans a treat in his homecoming to Progressive Field on Monday.
He did zippo at the plate.
The Mets shortstop wasn’t alone in futility, but as somebody batting only .193 after his hitless performance in four at-bats, his quiet performance was the most pronounced.
On this night, Lindor and the Mets were the Mistake by the Lake in a 3-1 loss to the Guardians.
Other than the offensive woes, the Mets had a costly miscue in the field and on the bases in losing for the eighth time in 11 games.
Starling Marte produced the Mets’ only buzz, with a fourth-inning ejection for protesting plate umpire Manny Gonzalez’s strike-three call.
Lindor, who spent his first six major league seasons in Cleveland — but hadn’t played here since his trade to the Mets — heard mostly cheers, with a smattering of boos, upon coming to the plate in the first inning.
Hitting in the leadoff spot for the third straight game since manager Carlos Mendoza’s lineup adjustment, Lindor struck out, grounded out, flied out and grounded out.
Tylor Megill, in his return from the injured list, allowed three runs (two earned), on four hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.
The Guardians jumped on Megill in the first for two runs, one of which was unearned following Brandon Nimmo’s error in left field.
Josh Naylor’s single was misplayed by Nimmo, allowing Naylor to reach second with Jose Ramirez ahead of him advancing to third.
David Fry’s ensuing two-run single produced the game’s first scoring.
The Mets had a brutal second inning on the bases, with J.D. Martinez and Marte both thrown out on Marte’s comebacker.
Martinez got caught in a rundown between second and third and Marte, with eyes toward advancing to second, got nailed retreating to first.
Tomas Nido blasted a homer against Ben Lively in the third that pulled the Mets within 2-1, Nido’s homer was his second this season and came on a curveball that traveled 405 feet into the left-field seats.
Fry’s leadoff walk in the fourth and steal of second base helped the Guardians take a 3-1 lead on Kyle Manzardo’s RBI double.
But Megill rebounded to strike out Naylor and retire Brayan Rocchio to strand the runner.
Tyrone Taylor, who entered the game after Marte was ejected, walked with two outs in the sixth to load the bases before Brett Baty struck out for the third time in the game.
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