Francisco Lindor homers twice and drives in 6 as Mets pull away for 14-3 rout of Braves

NEW YORK (AP) — Francisco Lindor homered twice and tripled off the top of the fence, driving in six runs as the New York Mets pulled away for a 14-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Monday night.

Marcus Semien hit a long two-run homer that snapped a 3-all tie in the sixth inning. Tyrone Taylor extended his tear at the plate with a three-run drive in the seventh as the last-place Mets (45-62) matched a season high with 19 hits and hammered a first-place opponent for the second consecutive day.

Taylor and Semien each had a three-run homer Sunday, when New York beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-3.

Lindor, Semien, Taylor, Bo Bichette and rookie A.J. Ewing all had three hits as the Mets, minus injured slugger Juan Soto, scored double-digit runs for the 10th time this season.

Rookie starter Zac Thornton (2-1) allowed three runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings. The left-hander struck out five and walked one in his fifth big league outing.

Lindor hit an RBI triple off the top of the right-field wall and a two-run homer to left in his first two at-bats against Atlanta starter Martín Pérez. The star shortstop then gave the Mets their final three runs with a towering drive into the left-field seats off reliever Connor Thomas (0-1) to cap a five-run eighth.

It was Lindor’s 23rd career multihomer game and first since Aug. 15 last year against Seattle. The switch-hitter had six RBIs for the fourth time and first since April 14, 2023. It was the first time he's had two homers and a triple in one game.

Ozzie Albies hit a tying homer for the Braves in the fourth and drove in all three of their runs.

Atlanta star Ronald Acuña Jr. returned to the lineup after missing 37 games with a strained left hamstring and went 1 for 4 with two strikeouts.

Pérez yielded three runs and eight hits in five innings. Thomas was tagged for 11 runs and 10 hits in 2 2/3 innings, and Atlanta used infielder Jorge Mateo on the mound to finish the eighth.

Atlanta LHP Chris Sale (11-6, 2.19 ERA) opposes New York RHP Christian Scott (3-2, 3.13) on Tuesday night.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

New York Mets' Francisco Lindor (12) celebrates with teammates after hitting a two-run home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves Monday, July 27, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Mets' Tyrone Taylor (28) celebrates with teammates Jared Young (29) and Francisco Alvarez (4) after hitting a three-run home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves Monday, July 27, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Mets' Tyrone Taylor hits a three-run home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves Monday, July 27, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Mets' Marcus Semien (10) celebrates with Tyrone Taylor (28) after hitting a two-run home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game Monday, July 27, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Mets third base coach Tim Leiper, left, celebrates with Francisco Lindor as he runs the bases after hitting a three-run home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves Monday, July 27, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.S. diplomats walked out as their French counterparts were speaking at the United Nations on Monday after America’s close European ally criticized the Trump administration's human rights record.

The surprise move during a U.N. Security Council meeting on Ukraine followed U.S. opposition to giving U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk another four-year term. The reappointment on Friday got overwhelming support, including from France.

The U.S. walkout reflects not only the more strained relations between President Donald Trump and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, but also wider tensions between the U.S. and Europe. These include questions over Trump's commitment to NATO, possible changes to U.S. troop deployments in Europe, and Trump’s desire to control Greenland, which belongs to NATO member Denmark.

Trump has complained that Europeans, who weren't consulted, did not help the U.S. during the Iran war. Amid the tensions, Macron has taken a lead in trying to build up Europe's military and ensure a nuclear umbrella as one of the continent's two nuclear powers, along with Britain.

After Monday’s brief walkout, deputy U.S. ambassador Dan Negrea accused France of feigning “moral outrage” and pretending to lecture the world about every topic, including human rights.

The United States has stood by France in every conflict where its "freedom has been imperiled” and tolerated its grandstanding “out of a sense of camaraderie and mutual respect,” he said, but no more.

What sparked the walkout was a social media post Friday from France’s U.N. Mission in Geneva criticizing U.S. opposition to a second term for the U.N. rights chief. The General Assembly voted 144-10 with 13 abstentions in support of Türk, with the U.S. among the “no” votes.

“The US used to be a beacon of human rights. Not anymore. Today, it stands alongside North Korea, Nicaragua, Mali & Russia, isolated. And the world no longer listens to it,” the French Mission tweeted.

Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., in responding on X, accused France of coddling ”some of the worst human rights abusers” and voting “for someone who has been lecturing, free, sovereign democracies like the United States, the UK, and Israel, while cozying up to the world’s worst oppressors.”

Türk’s job as the U.N. rights chief, by its nature, is tricky: It requires speaking out against rights violations by the governments of the countries that make up the membership of the world body.

For instance, Türk has sharply criticized Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s war in Gaza as well as having urged a “massive rethink” of U.S. immigration policy before the World Cup, citing issues around “racial profiling, surveillance and immigration enforcement.”

At Monday’s meeting, Negrea drilled in on France.

“Today, I remind them that it is the United States that remains the beacon of liberty for the world,” he said. “As such, we will not be affording them the benefit of listening to their politicized drivel until they renounce their condescending and disrespectful rhetoric and behave in a manner commensurate with their seat on this council.”

France’s U.N. Ambassador Jerome Bonnafont never mentioned the walkout when asked to take the floor at the end of the council meeting to respond.

Instead, he noted that France — which helped the United States gain its independence — took part in the July 4 celebration of America’s 250th anniversary.

“The United Nations was created with the goal of working towards international peace and security, human rights and development,” he said. “All of that forms the spirit in which France works within the United Nations … to preserve this institution, its independence, its ability to act in service of the charter and act to serve human rights and peace.”

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk speaks to the media during a press conference in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, July 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz speaks before President Donald Trump arrives at the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., during the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)