BRONX, NY — During his time in Cleveland and here in New York, Puerto Rican superstar shortstop Francisco Lindor has been a thorn in the Yankees’ side.
Saturday afternoon was no different.
As Lindor and the Mets put the pedal to the metal to beat the Yankees, 12-2, at Yankee Stadium—the 32-year-old switch-hitter was zoned in out of the gate and on it right away—silencing the pinstripe faithful on a lead-off home run off right-handed starter Gerrit Cole that was launched into the short porch of right field.
“We were able to get the pitches that we were looking for and just attack,” Lindor said postgame, recording his 36th career lead-off HR. “Usually, guys like him (Cole) don’t make too many mistakes. When they do, you’ve got to try to make them pay.”
That was just the start for Lindor as he smacked a grand slam in the eighth against reliever Bradley Hanner, his 20th HR of 2026 and 299th of his MLB career, putting an exclamation point on the game.
An 11-2 affair at that point, sending the majority of Yankee fans to the exits.
This is far from new for Lindor, a two-time LatinoMVP Award winner. Remember his epic three home run night against the Yankees at Citi Field in the 2021 Subway Series?
That was five years ago to the day of September 12th.
“That’s a good day, then, for me,” he said of the magic on 9/12 after his 24th career multi-homer game.
His defense was also on full display, one example was during the third inning when Lindor robbed Cuban American rookie George Lombard Jr. and fellow shortstop of a hit in the hole.
On the other hand, Cole, 36, had nothing for the Mets, with his ERA ballooning to 8.49 over five career Subway Series starts. Lasting 4.1 innings, the former American League Cy Young Award winner surrendered nine hits total, three of which left the yard—Lindor’s solo shot in the first, former Yankees farmhand Luis Torren’s solo blast two innings later and rookie Carson Benge’s in the third.
“It’s not easy. It’s a tough game, got to make hard adjustments. That’s why it’s the big leagues,” Cole said, allowing seven HRs over his last two outings—three vs. the Mets Saturday and four vs. the Padres last Sunday.
The only Yankee who showed up offensively in the loss was Cody Bellinger with an RBI single in the fourth and solo homer in the sixth that cut the lead to 5-2.
Juan Soto, always a lighting rod in the Bronx, and a star who never backs down from the bright lights, answered back quickly with a loud home run against Tim Hill in the visiting frame of the seventh.
“For me, it’s the same everywhere. We just try to lock in and stay focused on the game,” the three-time LatinoMVP Soto said of his 2-5 performance with the HR, two runs scored and an RBI while hearing the boos.
“They are very passionate fans and they are locked into the game but at the end of the day, we want to have a good day anywhere we go so it’s always great to have a good day.”
It was Soto’s 25th home run of the 2026 season, marking the 27-year-old Dominican superstar’s seventh career MLB season with 25 or more homers and this is in a year where he has missed 48 games due to injury.
Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto put on a show in the Bronx Saturday afternoon, leading the Mets over the Yankees to even up this weekend’s Subway Series at 1-1 – Image Credit: Roberto Carlo/Baseball Ahora
He said of Lindor’s winning impact, “Everybody knows who he is, he was going through it but we all knew at some point he was going to go off.”
In Sunday’s Subway Series finale for 2026, a rubber game scheduled for 1:35pm ET, the Yankees (85-63) will hand the ball to their ace Cam Schlittler (13-6, 2.01 ERA) in a game they can’t afford to lose, trailing the Rays by three games for the AL East division crown, as the Mets (69-79) send out Christian Scott (4-4, 3.81 ERA).
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