Lindor's Mental Lapses Haunt Mets in Brutal 11-Inning Loss to Cardinals

Francisco Lindor made two bone-headed plays Wednesday night in St. Louis, and the second one came back to bite the Mets hard. The star shortstop got picked off first base in the sixth inning right before Juan Soto could cash in with a home run. New York couldn't get out of its own way, stranding 11 runners and losing 2-1 to the Cardinals in 11 innings. This is exactly the kind of game that drives a team crazy.

The Sixth Inning Gaffe That Hurt the Most

Lindor reached base in the sixth on a one-out error by Cardinals third baseman Nolan Gorman. But then he wandered too far off the bag while fiddling with his gloves and got picked off cleanly by St. Louis starter Matthew Liberatore. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza gave the Cardinals credit for the play, calling it a "good move" and noting Lindor was "trying to get some momentum there and being aggressive."

Three pitches later, Soto hit a soaring fly ball that landed just over the right-field fence inside the foul pole for a solo homer. That could have been a two-run shot. That's a brutal sequence when you're trying to win a ballgame.

The First Inning Brain Cramp That Started It All

But the real kicker came earlier. In the first inning with one out and Iván Herrera on first, Lindor positioned himself near second base on a grounder hit by left-handed batter Alec Burleson. He touched the bag but then headed straight toward the dugout instead of throwing to first to complete the double play. He flat out forgot how many outs there were.

"I forgot the outs," Lindor said after the game. "I made a mistake that probably cost Peralta an extra inning because he had to throw more pitches after that. It's inexcusable." Lindor acknowledged that Mets starter Freddy Peralta probably could have gone six or seven innings if not for the extra pitches he had to throw.

Mendoza didn't make excuses for his shortstop. "There's no excuses," the manager said. "He'll be the first one that tells you that. That can't happen. He knows. He was pretty ticked when he came in." New York's offense wasn't much help either, going 1 for 29 with runners in scoring position during the series and 0 for 11 in this game alone.

The Mets drop to 3-3 with this loss. Mental mistakes at this level of baseball are exactly what separate winning teams from teams that struggle.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.