Mets’ Francisco Lindor looks to redeem himself vs. Twins

Francisco Lindor might be harder on himself than any fan could be.

The New York Mets shortstop is determined to snap out of a defensive funk when he and his teammates take on the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday afternoon in Minneapolis. The contest marks the rubber match of a three-game series.

Lindor made a fielding error in the third inning that opened the door for the Twins to score their first run of the game on Tuesday night. Carlos Correa followed with a two-out RBI single in the next at-bat, and Minnesota took advantage of those two unearned runs on the way to a 6-3 victory.

“It’s unacceptable what’s happening right now,” Lindor said. “It’s unacceptable. I’ve got to be better. It’s not to the standards the Mets have; it’s definitely not to the standard I have for myself. It’s been two games already that cost the team.”

The series finale will mark a chance for redemption for Lindor and his teammates. The Mets are off to a great start to the season, sitting in first place in the National League East and winning nine of their past 12 games. They are looking to avoid their first series loss since March 27-29 against the Houston Astros.

Meanwhile, the Twins will try for their first series win since March 31-April 2 against the Chicago White Sox.

Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers said he and his teammates remain confident at the plate despite early-season struggles, hitting just .213 as a team. Jeffers will look to stay hot after going 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles in Tuesday night’s victory.

“I’ve felt really good,” he said. “(I’m) just really sticking with the process and understanding how early it is in the season and knowing that good things will come.”

Jeffers credited starting pitchers such as Bailey Ober with taking pressure off the hitters, too.

“We haven’t been scoring a lot of runs, and that’s no secret,” Jeffers said after Ober held the Mets to seven hits. “But when a starter can go out there and control an offense that’s really one of the best in the game, hats off to him.”

Twins right-hander David Festa (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will look to follow Ober’s impressive outing when he makes his second start Wednesday. Festa allowed one unearned run on three hits in 4 2/3 innings in his season debut Friday against the Detroit Tigers in a game the Twins lost 7-6.

Festa is 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA in one career start against the Mets.

The Mets expect to cobble together a few pitchers for the series finale. Right-hander Griffin Canning initially was scheduled to pitch but will be sidelined because of an illness.

New York manager Carlos Mendoza said the team would promote right-hander Justin Hagenman from Triple-A Syracuse for Wednesday’s game. Mendoza said he was not sure whether Hagenman would start or whether he would use a relief pitcher as an opener.

Whenever Hagenman enters the game, it will mark his big-league debut. The 28-year-old from Penn State has appeared in more than 200 games in the minors in the Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox and Mets farm systems.

The Twins could be without starters Correa and Matt Wallner after both players left the game Tuesday because of injuries. Correa appeared to hurt his left wrist while fouling off a pitch, and Wallner limped off after jamming his left leg against the first base bag while stretching out an infield single.

“I don’t have much to add on those guys, except we’re going to monitor them, get some testing done, and see what they say,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said.

–Field Level Media