Francisco Lindor said the most difficult part was the somersault.
When he caught Donovan Solano’s grounder in the fourth inning, he already had his feet on the outfield grass.
His body momentum was also moving away from his target for the ball – the glove of Jeff McNeil at second base.
But in one move, one that manager Carlos Mendoza described as “special,” Lindor launched the ball high toward McNeil and then let out a roar to the fans beyond the outfield fence after the frame ended with a fielder’s choice sequence.
Lindor doubled in his next at-bat, scoring the first run and leading the Mets to a 5-1 victory over the Padres on Saturday at Citi Field.
“Trying to motivate myself,” Lindor, who was 1-for-3 with 2 walks, said of his reaction. “Trying to motivate the team. Trying to motivate the fans. At the end of the day, my reaction was just because I’m trying to motivate everybody.”
His defensive gem, showcasing the instincts that won him Gold Glove awards in 2016 and 2019, was one of two good Mets pitches in the fourth inning — the other came from Brandon Nimmo — and helped Jose Quintana get off to his best start since April.
First, Nimmo raced with a fan to catch a Fernando Tatis Jr. foul ball down the left field line.
Nimmo then leaned over the sidewall to catch the ball, shook the fan’s hand, made sure he was OK and received a few pats on the back.
Nimmo then held up his glove to show that he had actually caught the ball.
That saved Quintana from having to throw another pitch to Tatis, who hit a 100.3 mph double in the first inning.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Lindor turned a single into a double with some aggressive base running with two outs.
He watched the ball hit to left field for a couple of steps before trusting first-base coach Antoine Richardson and advancing to second.
Nimmo’s next pitch gave the Mets a 1-0 lead, helping him snap out of a long slump that saw him get a hit in eight of his past 10 games and undergo a concussion test after being hit in the head by a hard pitch.
For much of the regular season, the Mets’ defense has been characterized by errors.
Lindor, who had 44 errors through Saturday, tied for fourth-most in MLB, committed his 45th error on a throwing error in the eighth inning.
But in one inning, Lindor and Nimmo showed glimpses of what the Mets defense can add when the errors don’t follow one another.
“One of the traits you see from Francisco is that no matter what the at-bat is, the offense is, how the team is playing, he’s focused,” Mendoza said. “Defense is his No. 1 priority every pitch, which makes it very special. [Saturday]. “
