Inside Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor's series-clinching grand slam

NEW YORK — Katya Lindor closed her eyes and began to pray.

When he opened them, Francisco Lindor's bat was still in the air — and headed for the right-center field fence. “Come on, come on, come on,” she said to herself as it continued. Eventually, the ball went over the fence and into the visitors' bullpen. Pandemonium erupted around him, a blur of orange and blue fans jumping up and down and shaking the ground.

She started crying.

“It's almost like a weight lifted off our shoulders where it's like, people finally appreciate him and they see his value,” Lindor's wife said. “I think they're starting to see it off the field, and certainly on the field. I'm so proud of him. I'm in awe of him every day. His hard work is just endless. Take his responsibility and his role lightly.”

Lindor's sixth-inning grand slam is perhaps the biggest home run in Citi Field's brief history, and perhaps the best swing of his life. In a blowout Wednesday, the Heat put the Mets on the board, gave them the lead and all their offense responded with a 4-1 victory that eliminated the rival Phillies from the postseason and sent New York to the National League Championship Series. For the first time since 2015.

The series-clinching grand slam — a truly fairytale moment for Queens — also served as a metaphor for what Lindor means to this Mets organization.

“I want to win it all. I want to win it all,” Lindor said. “And then it will be a team that [will] Forever remembered we will be the group that comes every 10 years and eats for free wherever they go. And I want to do that. I want to do it. The work is never finished.”

Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns, red-eyed from champagne and hysteria, said anyone who saw Lindor step up in clutch situations this year thought he was the one to deliver the big hit in a tight Game 4 of the NLDS.

“I don't know if there's another player in baseball you want at the plate right now,” Stearns said.

Just nine days earlier, which may have felt like nine weeks in October, Lindor hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning against the Braves to seal the Mets' playoff spot. The following week, Lindor consistently reached base to set up key home runs for his teammates, including Pete Alonso's ninth-inning three-run blast in the wild-card game against the Brewers and Mark Vientos' ninth-inning home run. The two-run shot that tied Game 2 of the NLDS against Philadelphia. Lindor's dramatic grand slam off a 100 mph offering from Carlos Estevez was his first home run of the postseason making it hard to believe how much each contributed to the win.

“The whole time, I was like, this is us,” manager Carlos Mendoza said as he thought as Citi Field erupted. “It's part of the story. It's part of the book, the movie, whatever you want to call it. [Lindor] to enjoy it.”

“I don't remember putting my hands up. But my hands were right in the air,” Alonso said of his reaction to Lindor's grand slam. “Just an incredible swing. I mean, it was the swing of a lifetime. That's what you practice in the backyard, growing up as a kid.”

It's not too much to say the shortstop has led every step of the way — from an 0-5 start to a season 11 games under .500 to the Mets' improbable NLCS odyssey to being snubbed for the All-Star Game. Lindor's attention to detail and ability to stay level-headed in stressful situations are just a few of the reasons his teammates describe him as killer, consistent, their MVP, their leader and their captain. Stearns said the 30-year-old Lindor has built his entire life to do what he did Wednesday night at Citi Field.

His last act of leadership came not in the sixth inning but in the ninth, when Edwin Diaz walked 10 pitches in his first two at-bats. The beleaguered Mets were walking the tightrope to protect a three-run lead when pitching coach Jeremy Hefner called for a mound visit.

Diaz tried to pump himself up by repeating, “Let's go, let's go.” That's when Lindor heard Diaz: “Don't say, 'Let's go,'” Lindor told him. “Just do it.”

At one point, Diaz, who had been struggling to locate, locked in and threw his 99 mph fastball exactly where he wanted it — pinch-hitter Cody Clemens blew them away for a strikeout. After inducing a flyout, Diaz quickly walked off season titan Kyle Schwarber before removing him with a 101 mph hitter to close the door on the NL East champions' season.

When the Mets' dugout spilled onto the field, something wonderful happened: Instead of rushing to the mound, the entire Mets roster rushed to where Lindor was standing in the infield dirt and gave him a hug and a hug. Then, and only then, did his emotionless facade fade. He smiled, he cried, he laughed and he looked out at the Citi Field crowd and took it all in.

“We're blessed to be able to do it in front of the fans,” a red-eyed Lindor told Fox's Tom Verducci. “We just kept climbing. My bat wouldn't have gone up if it wasn't for the guys in front of me. I was the one who drove in the runs today, but it could have been anybody.”

But it was likely to be Lindor, and it allowed the long-suffering fan base to witness a series win in Flushing for the first time since 2000.

“Great ballplayers do great things,” Mets owner Steve Cohen said of Lindor's slam. “It was bases loaded. It was a big moment, so I was standing. You knew something was going to happen.”

As has been his style this fall, Lindor was straight-faced and locked in as he rounded the bases following his homer. Somehow, she was the only one keeping it together while the rest of the Queens lost their minds. Outfielder Jesse Winker described Lindor as a “stone-cold killer.” Lindor's low-key response is a departure from the explosive, celebratory displays he used to put on during his previous postseason with Cleveland. A few teammates asked Lindor about it, and he told them he wouldn't celebrate until the job was done until the Mets were final out of the World Series.

Just 24 hours earlier, Lindor said this was the calmest he felt in his six career trips to the playoffs.

“I don't know, for some reason the reactions from me this year haven't been as enthusiastic or excited,” he said Tuesday. “I don't know if it has to do with being tired or just trying to be in the moment, I don't have the crazy reactions that I usually do. I'm in a better place now, living the life I've always wanted.”

So are the Mets.

As the team celebrated on the field in champagne-soaked black T-shirts, one fan held up a sign that said, “Believe in miracles.” Another read “DESTINY” in orange letters. That's how the 2024 Mets play: a team of destiny that is resilient above all else. When they entered spring training, the Mets had a 2.2% chance of winning the NLCS, according to Fangraphs' playoff odds. The same projection system gave them a 1% chance of winning the World Series. Now, the Mets are just eight wins away.

Stearns had some choice words for those who have criticized the Mets core — led by Lindor, Alonso and Brandon Nimmo — and questioned whether they can win big games.

“I think they showed bulls—,” he said. “This core has been winning games since June 1. So, we can put it to bed now.”

And yet, Mendoza later insisted that the Mets, who actually have the best record in baseball since June 1, still haven't done anything. Lindor said he's not even close to satisfied. The Mets are enjoying the moment, no doubt. But they are still hungry, and that should be an ominous sign for their next opponent. The Mets enter the NLCS as perhaps the most consistent team in baseball.

“That's what I wanted. I came here to play winning baseball and have a chance to try to win a World Series,” Lindor said, adding that his game has already taken these Mets further than anyone outside their clubhouse imagined. “We have to keep climbing.”

Disha Thosar An MLB reporter for Fox Sports. He previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Disha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow him on Twitter @Disha Thosar.

[Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.]