The Mets had picked a hell of a time to bury their bats in the weeds. This side of the border, that side of the border: didnt matter. The Mets had 13 hits over the course of 28 innings. They had one extra-base hit in that span. And the last eight of those innings? A 28-year-old kid making his 11th career start named Bowden Francis had mowed them down like blades of gra s under a Toro. The Mets needed this game, that was non-negotiable, but they couldnt touch Francis. Theyd gone down on six pitches in the eighth. The Diamondbacks were already way ahead in Phoenix. The Anfernee Simons Jersey Braves were ready to tee up the Nats in Washington. Francisco Lindor hits a solo home run in the ninth inning of the Mets 6-2 win over Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on Sept. 11, 2024. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con The Mets were in a pretty bad fix. Everything went his way, Francisco Lindor said. Until the last pitch he threw. Francis, a split-finger specialist, had just befuddled Lindor with his best ones of the day. It was 0-and-2. There were plenty of Mets fans at Torontos Rogers Centre, but they were drowned out by the others among the 29,399 who knew they were three outs away from witne sing history. Brian Serven called for a fastball, and hoped Francis would throw it around chin level. It was waist level. The last pitch Francis threw, Lindor turned around that fastball turned around the game, too, and maybe the Mets playoff hopes and launched it 398 feet. It tied the game at 1. It transformed the Mets dugout into a first-grade gym cla s, two dozen players jumping, leaping over the railing, flailing the air. More From Mike Vaccaro Once Lindor hit that ball, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said, you could feel something change. You could sense it. Said Lindor: The vibes in the dugout just lifted. What happened next was almost inevitable. The Mets loaded the bases. Pete Alonso and Starling Marte socked sacrifice flies. Francisco Alvarez crushed a three-run homer 439 feet to dead center. And Ryne Stanek and Edwin Diaz closed out the Jays. , and kept their feet solidly on the in side of playoff position. FRANCISCO LINDOR = MVP!!!! BREAKS UP THE NO-HITTER IN THE 9TH INNING AND TIES THE GAME!!!! New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) And they did it by winning the kind of game teams touched by pixie dust seem to win (and later, the Braves helped by getting slapped around by the Nats). Its funny. For much of the day, we were prepared to remind you that twice in the Mets history, in years theyd made the postseason, theyd been no-hit in the final weeks of a season: in 1969 (by Pittsburghs Bob Moose) and in 2015 (by Washingtons Max Scherzer). Instead, we will go back to another night late in 1969, Sept. 15 in St. Louis, when Steve Carlton set a major league record by striking out 19 Mets yet , because Ron Swoboda hit two-run home runs in the fourth and eighth innings. Pixie-dust game. Just like this one. Francisco Lindor runs the bases after hitting a ninth-inning solo home run in the Mets win. Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images My home run was only big because we wound up winning the game, Lindor said. It got us going. It also provided two immediate and altogether compelling pieces of testimony. For one: at some point soon, preferably over the winter, Lindor should be named the Mets captain. On that ballot he will run unopposed. On the other? Well, lets just say this didnt hurt his chances in the long-shot campaign to convince enough MVP voters to ignore the fact Shohei Ohtani is just three home runs and two stolen bases shy of founding the 50/50 club. All Lindor can do is keep collecting moments like this one, which leave his teammates alternately shaking their heads and pumping their fists, all of them hitching a ride to Lindors star. Francisco Lindor (left) celebrates the Mets win over the Blue Jays with center fielder Harrison Bader at Rogers Centre on Sept. 11, 2024. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con And you know something? It didnt end there. Later, talking to SNYs Steve Gelbs, Lindor said, ever mindful of the date: Today were playing for the fire department and the police department, all the people that actually have hard jobs in life. My problems in baseball are distant. So thank you to all who take care of us and much love. Love is not in short supply around Lindor, not in the Mets clubhouse, not on the team charter that flew them from Toronto to Philadelphia to enjoy a day off Thursday before they hurl themselves into three critical games at Citizens Bank Park against the Phillies. Earlier, as Gelbs colleague, Gary Cohen, saw Lindors ball disappear over the right field wall, Francisco Lindor #12 of the New York Mets wears a hat to commemorate first responders on the anniversary off 9/11 while playing the Toronto Blue Jays in their MLB game at the Rogers Centre on September 11, 2024 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada Getty Images Twelve years ago, in Toronto, at the very peak of Jeremy Lins dream ride, hed hit a 3 at the buzzer and the Knicks beat the Raptors. In that moment it felt like the biggest moment a New York athlete has ever had in the province of Ontario. It has company now. Derrick Jones Jr. Jersey