ST. LOUIS (AP) — Francisco Lindor made a couple of uncharacteristic mental mistakes Wednesday, and the second one certainly cost the New York Mets.
The star shortstop lost track of the outs on defense in the opening inning and got picked off first base in the sixth — right before teammate Juan Soto homered. The slumping Mets stranded 11 runners and lost 2-1 to the St. Louis Cardinals in 11 innings.
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New York Mets' pitcher Freddy Peralta throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/LG Patterson)
New York Mets' Juan Soto hits a home run in the sixth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/LG Patterson)
St. Louis Cardinal teammates surround Masyn Winn after he hit the game winning hit during the eleventh inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/LG Patterson)
New York Mets' right fielder Carson Benge misses a fly ball during the eleventh inning of a baseball game which allowed the St. Louis Cardinals to win the game Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/LG Patterson)
New York Mets' right fielder Carson Benge dives but can't make the catch on a fly ball which allowed the St. Louis Cardinals to score the winning run in the 11th inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/LG Patterson)
Lindor reached base in the sixth on a one-out error by third baseman Nolan Gorman, but the leadoff hitter wandered too far off the bag and was fiddling with his gloves when he was easily picked off by St. Louis starter Matthew Liberatore.
“I should have been better,” Lindor said.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza credited the Cardinals with making a good move to nab Lindor.
“They got us there,” Mendoza said. “He was going to go. They got us with a quick step-off there. I wouldn’t consider that one there a mental mistake. He was trying to get some momentum there and being aggressive.”
Three pitches later, Soto hit a soaring fly that landed just over the right-field fence inside the foul pole for a solo home run.
In the first inning, Lindor failed to execute a potential double play when he forgot how many outs there were.
With one out and Iván Herrera on first, left-handed-hitting Alec Burleson hit a grounder to Lindor at shortstop. Positioned near second base, Lindor touched the bag but then headed toward the dugout instead of throwing to first to retire Burleson as well.
By the time Lindor realized his mistake, it was too late. New York starter Freddy Peralta struck out the next batter to end the inning.
“I forgot the outs,” Lindor said. “I made a mistake that probably cost Peralta an extra inning because he had to throw more pitches after that. It’s inexcusable. He probably could have gone six, seven innings. I just forgot the outs. I realized there was just one out. Honest mistake.”
Mendoza didn’t cover for Lindor.
“There’s no excuses,” Mendoza said. “He’ll be the first one that tells you that. That can’t happen. He knows. He was pretty (ticked) when he came in. Peralta did a good job picking him up and finishing that inning.”
New York (3-3) went 1 for 29 with runners in scoring position during the three-game series, including 0 for 11 in the finale.
“Hats off to them,” Lindor said. “They executed their pitches. They played better. I've got to be better, and go out there and win the next series.”
The Mets have totaled 12 runs in their last five games after scoring 11 on opening day against Pittsburgh.
“Good hitters right now for a couple of games, they’re not getting it done,” Mendoza said.
Lindor remains optimistic the Mets will put everything together.
“I still believe in what we have,” he said. “We have a good team. We are a couple of pitches away from continuing to get the ball rolling on our side.”
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New York Mets' pitcher Freddy Peralta throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/LG Patterson)
New York Mets' Juan Soto hits a home run in the sixth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/LG Patterson)
St. Louis Cardinal teammates surround Masyn Winn after he hit the game winning hit during the eleventh inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/LG Patterson)
New York Mets' right fielder Carson Benge misses a fly ball during the eleventh inning of a baseball game which allowed the St. Louis Cardinals to win the game Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/LG Patterson)
New York Mets' right fielder Carson Benge dives but can't make the catch on a fly ball which allowed the St. Louis Cardinals to score the winning run in the 11th inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/LG Patterson)
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The late Ted Bundy, one of the most famous and prolific serial killers in U.S. history, has claimed another victim.
New DNA testing confirmed Bundy was responsible for the 1974 killing of a 17-year-old Utah girl who disappeared after leaving a party alone on Halloween night, the local sheriff’s office said Wednesday.
Laura Ann Aime was found dead on the side of a highway in American Fork Canyon about a month after her abduction. She was bound, beaten and without clothing.
Investigators long suspected that Bundy killed her — police said he verbally acknowledged his culpability before his execution in Florida in 1989 — but the case remained open until they could be certain.
“It's really quite amazing that people are even still interested in Laura's case,” her sister, Michelle Impala, said at a news conference Wednesday. “Know I speak for my family when I thank you, and thank you media, too, for even caring.”
Bundy is linked to the deaths of at least 30 women and girls’ across several states in the 1970s. His murders — which occurred in sorority houses, parks and elsewhere — set the nation on edge. Bundy’s arrest drew widespread fascination, in part because many considered him to be charming and handsome.
Investigators had carefully preserved the evidence from Aime’s case, and forensic analysts were able to identify portions that seemed most likely to have usable DNA samples, Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason said.
The state crime lab got new technology in 2023 that allows investigators to extract DNA from samples even if they are small, degraded from age or contain DNA from multiple people, he said. That technology allowed them to identify a single male DNA profile, which they submitted to a national law enforcement database.
Bundy’s DNA was a match, Mason said.
That profile can now be used by other law enforcement agencies who have long suspected Bundy of additional unsolved killings, he said, adding that more families could get similar closure.
“Laura Aime is the quintessential daughter of Utah County,” Sgt. Mike Reynolds said. “We felt the pain the family feels when she was taken. We felt the pain that you felt this whole entire time, and we’ve had the desire to deliver to you some type of healing.”
Impala was only 12 when her older sister died. Even with a five-year age gap, she said they were very close and did everything together. They shared a bedroom on the family's farm in Fairview, Utah, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of Provo.
Impala reminisced Wednesday about riding horses with her sister and watching Aime feed her horse red licorice nibs.
“When she died, he would not eat those anymore,” she said.
It’s not known when Bundy first began his attacks, but by 1974, young women — many of them college students — began disappearing in Washington state. Authorities were still investigating those cases when Bundy moved to Salt Lake City and began killing in Utah, Idaho and Colorado.
At the time of Aime’s killing, Bundy was studying law at the University of Utah.
In August 1975, he was arrested for the first time in connection with the attacks. Police pulled him over and found incriminating items in his vehicle including rope, handcuffs and a ski mask.
He was found guilty the following year of kidnapping and assaulting a teen in Utah who had managed to get away. Bundy was sentenced to 15 years in prison for that crime, and while imprisoned he was charged in connection with the earlier death of a nursing student.
He was brought to Aspen, Colorado, for a hearing in that case in 1977, and he escaped custody by climbing out a second-story courthouse window when he was left alone for a time. He was caught after about a week, but escaped again six months later by breaking through the ceiling of a jail.
Bundy fled across the country, eventually making his way to Tallahassee, Florida. On Jan. 15, 1978, he entered the Chi Omega sorority house at Florida State University, bludgeoning two women to death with a large branch and leaving two more badly injured. He then went to another house nearby, badly injuring another woman.
Less than a month later, he abducted, sexually assaulted and killed a 12-year-old girl in Lake City, Florida. Kimberly Leach was believed to be his last victim before he was arrested again and executed years later.
Boone reported from Boise, Idaho.
This story has been updated to correct that the killings at the Florida State University sorority house were in 1978, not 1977.
Utah County Sheriff Sgt. Mike Reynolds, from left, speaks as he and Utah County Sheriff Mike Smith and Beau Mason, commissioner of the Utah Department of Public Safety, field questions at the end of a news conference announcing that definitive evidence has linked Ted Bundy to the murder of Laura Ann Aime, at the Utah County Sheriff's Office, in Spanish Fork, Utah, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (Isaac Hale/The Deseret News via AP)
Brent Bullock, center left, who led investigations at the Utah County Attorney's Office around the time of Laura Ann Aime's murder, shakes hands with Michelle Impala, Aime's younger sister, after a news conference at the Utah County Sheriff's Office in Spanish Fork, Utah, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, announcing definitive evidence linking Ted Bundy to Aime's murder. (Isaac Hale/The Deseret News via AP)
Michelle Impala, right, sister of Laura Ann Aime, speaks, joined by Utah County Sheriff Mike Smith, during a news conference announcing that definitive evidence has linked Ted Bundy to Aime's murder, at the Utah County Sheriff's Office, in Spanish Fork, Utah, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (Isaac Hale/The Deseret News via AP)
Utah County Sheriff's Deputy Jake Hall, lead detective on the case, looks to other family members as he hugs Tommi Aime, youngest sister of Laura Ann Aime, after announcing that definitive evidence has linked Ted Bundy to Laura's murder at a news conference at the Utah County Sheriff's Office, in Spanish Fork, Utah, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (Isaac Hale/The Deseret News via AP)
FILE - Mourners say goodbye to Kimberly Leach at her funeral, April 13, 1978, in Lake City, Fla. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Accused murderer Ted Bundy attends the second day of jury selection in his murder trial, June 27, 1979, in Miami, Fla. (AP Photo,File)
FILE - Accused murderer Ted Bundy leans back in his chair as trial judge Edward Cowart speaks, in Tallahassee, Fla., April 26, 1979. (AP Photo/Mark Foley, File)
