While Toronto Blue Jays fans lamented another near-miss for Bowden Francis on Wednesday, the dramatic ending to his no-hit bid led to a familiar slogan for New Yorkers.
When Mets star Francisco Lindor cleared the right-field wall to open the top of the ninth, tying the game at 1-1 with his team’s first hit off Francis, SNY play-by-play man Gary Cohen delivered a memorable call.
“That’s driven to deep right field. And a home run ends this no-hit bid. Linsanity!” Cohen said. “Francisco Lindor ties the game with a ninth-inning home run. As big a hit as the Mets have had all season. Francisco Lindor breaks up the no-hit bid and the shutout and he ties the game with his 31st home run of the year.”
Linsanity, of course, first became a thing in New York when the then-unheralded Jeremy Lin led the Knicks on a improbable win streak during the 2011-12 season.
As columnist Mike Vaccaro noted in the New York Post, “Twelve years ago, in Toronto, at the very peak of Jeremy Lin’s dream ride, he’d hit a three 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.”
Lin went on to play for the Raptors in 2018-19 and captured a championship ring with the Kawhi Leonard-led team.
Lindor’s home run propelled the Mets to a six-run ninth and they went on to beat the Blue Jays 6-2 for a much-needed win. The Mets and Atlanta are in a heated battle for the final NL wild-card spot.
“MVP, that is basically what I can say right now,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said of Lindor. “On a night we are about to get no-hit and for him to put together that at-bat … special player, special person and MVP.”