Brandon Nimmo stood in the batter’s box and fouled a ball off, but most of the attention of the announced 29,400 in attendance was directed elsewhere.
Some looked in the Mets dugout, where a celebration raged.
Some exchanged high fives. Many — an increasing number of fans who are growing increasingly loud of late — chanted “M! V! P!” after Francisco Lindor’s 30th home run of the season gave his team a lead it would not return.
Lindor’s MVP case is strengthening. What might solidify that bid would be for his excellent regular season to translate into a postseason appearance for the Mets.
There are still weeks to play, but Lindor is threatening to carry his club into October.
His two-run home run began the scoring, and his eighth-inning RBI double added a cushion in an eventual 7-2 win over the Red Sox at a boisterous Citi Field on Tuesday night.
The Mets (75-64) kept pace with the Braves and remained a half-game back of the final NL wild card behind a star aiming to become the first MVP in franchise history.
Hours beforehand, David Stearns — whose job essentially is to identify and evaluate value — was asked what the Most Valuable Player looked like. He did not mention Shohei Ohtani.
“I think he looks like the guy who runs out to shortstop at 7:00,” Stearns said before the Mets won a sixth straight.
In a season in which he has not missed a game, of course Lindor was at shortstop at 7. Less than an hour later, the Mets were desperate to get Lindor to the plate as quickly as possible.
Boston righty Kutter Crawford was mowing down the Mets, whose first seven batters were retired.
“I felt like in that [third] inning that he hit the homer,” winning pitcher David Peterson said, “if we could get a guy on and get him to the plate, something special was going to happen.”
As did the entire dugout.
“I think every time he’s at the plate,” manager Carlos Mendoza said, “we feel good about our chances.”
Jeff McNeil worked a walk that assured the top of the lineup would get a chance, and of course Lindor made that chance count.
He turned on a 2-1 cutter from Crawford and sent it towering into right field, clearing the wall for a two-out, two-run shot that cracked into what had been a scoreless game.
The party could begin. The “MVP” demands could intensify.
“[Winning the award would] be a dream,” said Lindor, who has finished as high as fifth in MVP voting. “But right now I’m just trying to play winning baseball. We’ll see where we’re at at the end of the year, and hopefully we’re in the postseason.”
The 30-year-old now has five 30-homer seasons, only eclipsed by Alex Rodriguez (seven) among everyday shortstops.
He pushed his on-base streak to 32 games and hit streak to 14 games, the latter in which he owns a 21-for-58 (.362) line with six homers, seven doubles and 12 RBIs.
Lindor’s dinger put the Mets ahead, and a solo shot from Mark Vientos in the seventh added some breathing room.
The Mets ran away from what had been a competitive game in the eighth, when Lindor smacked an opposite-field double to drive in one and cranked those “MVP” chants a bit louder.
After a sacrifice fly from Nimmo, Pete Alonso crushed his 31st homer of the season to eliminate plenty of the drama that had seemed imminent a frame earlier.
After six excellent, one-run, 11-strikeout innings from Peterson, Jose Butto pitched a scoreless seventh and walked two to begin the top of the eighth.
Delivering insights on all things Amazin’s
Sign up for Inside the Mets by Mike Puma, exclusively on Sports+
Thank you
In came Reed Garrett to face Rafael Devers, who reached on a rare misplay by Lindor, who tried for an out at second base and then couldn’t get one at first.
With the bases loaded and no one out, Garrett allowed just one run.
Enmanuel Valdez sent a sacrifice fly into right before Masataka Yoshida grounded into a double play, a fired-up Garrett getting out of trouble.
“That was probably one of the best we’ve seen [from Garrett],” Mendoza said of the righty. “I thought every pitch was pretty nasty.”
The Mets are 53-31 since May 30, which is the best record in the majors during that span.
A team that was 11 games under .500 has risen to 11 games over .500.
A lot has gone right, most notably the emergence of an MVP candidate who these days always seems to rise to the occasion.
“I love that,” Lindor said. “I want those moments.”
