Juan Soto hasn’t been the only Mets star in a rut.
Francisco Lindor entered Friday with just eight hits in his previous 55 plate appearances and struggling to find his swing from the right side.
In Friday’s 4-2 win over the Rockies, though, Lindor managed to do a little bit of everything.
He hit a leadoff homer in the bottom of the first from the right side and then helped seal the Mets’ fifth win in their last six games with another home run to start the bottom of the eighth, this one from the left side.
The Mets have won 25 straight games in which Lindor has homered, tied for the second-longest streak in MLB history.
Only Carl Furillo of the Brooklyn Dodgers had a longer stretch (29), according to statistician Sarah Langs.
Mixed in was Lindor’s great leaping, run-saving catch to end the top of the third.
“It’s part of 162,” manager Carlos Mendoza said of the long season and even players of Lindor’s — and Soto’s — quality hitting rough patches. “It’s not gonna be perfect all the time.”
Lindor was just about perfect on Friday, pulling the ball out from the right side and hitting it out to the opposite field from the left side later in the game.
It all came against the historically bad Rockies as the Mets look to take advantage of this portion of their schedule.
Coming off a loss versus the awful White Sox, the Mets bounced back with Colorado in town.
Not only are the Rockies on pace to break the White Sox record of futility set just last year, they entered the game having lost 10 of their previous 11 games and were a ridiculous 3-25 away from Coors Field.
Meanwhile, the Mets have been the best team in the majors at home.
Mendoza said the Rockies weren’t as rotten as their record indicated, pointing to recent close series against good teams like the Phillies, Yankees and Cubs.
“They have good players,” the manager said. “I know right now [what] their record says, but they’re a big-league team.”
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And after going up 3-0 in the fourth inning, the Mets saw the Rockies get back into the game with runs in the sixth and seventh to get to within a run.
But Reed Garrett pitched a scoreless eighth and Edwin Diaz closed it out in the ninth.
Lindor set the tone in the first and gave David Peterson an early lead.
After retiring eight of the first nine batters he faced, Peterson got into a jam in the third.
Tyler Freeman and Jordan Beck had consecutive one-out singles to center and after Ezequiel Tover struck out, Peterson walked Hunter Goodman to load the bases.
Former Yankee Thairo Estrada followed with a rocket that looked destined for left field, but Lindor made a terrific leaping grab to end the inning and preserve the one-run lead.
“I figured if he was in the vicinity, he had a chance,” Peterson said of Lindor. “It was awesome to get us out of that inning.”
The shortstop singled with one out in the bottom of the inning and scored on Soto’s two-out double to the gap in right-center to make it 2-0.
The RBI double snapped an 0-for-17 drought for Soto.
As Peterson cruised, Starling Marte went deep off Kyle Freeland with one out in the fourth. The solo shot, Marte’s third home run of the year, gave the Mets a 3-0 lead.
Peterson retired the first two batters in the sixth, but hit Estrada with a pitch and then Mark Vientos couldn’t handle Brendan Doyle’s ground ball hit to his left, which went for a single.
Ryan McMahon followed with a double to right that scored Estrada to cut the Mets’ lead to 3-1.
Huascar Brazobán replaced Peterson and got pinch-hitter Mickey Moniak to fly to left to end the inning.
But Brazobán gave up a one-out, pinch-hit solo homer to Sam Hilliard in the seventh to make it 3-2.
Brazobán gave way to Garrett to start the eighth with a one-run lead and Garrett retired the side in order.
After Lindor’s 12th homer of the season in the eighth, Diaz came in and struck out the side in the ninth for his 12th save.