The White Sox (67-62) failed to build on their come-from-behind victory on Friday night, as the Mets (59-71) picked up a 10-5 victory against a pitching staff that struggled from start to finish.
Luis Castillo, 33, started on the mound for the South Siders, and things did not go as planned. In the first, A.J. Ewing led off with a single on the game’s first pitch. Castillo retired the next two batters he faced, but Ewing stole second to put himself in scoring position. That set the stage for Carson Benge, who hit a soft liner into left on a low changeup to drive in the game’s first run.
Mets starting pitcher Christian Scott, 27, did not have any trouble in the bottom of the first, but the White Sox got on the board against him in the second. With the bases empty and one out, Braden Montgomery stepped up to the plate and delivered a moonshot.
The blast was Montgomery’s fifth of his young MLB career, and it tied the game at one.
The good vibes did not last long, as the third inning did not go smoothly for Castillo and the South Siders, to say the least. Francisco Lindor led off with a ground out, but Bo Bichette put the Mets back in front with a solo homer, and New York was not done. Benge added another single, and although Jared Young flew out, Benge stole second, and up to the plate stepped Luis Robert Jr. On a crucial 1-2 pitch, Castillo appeared to escape further damage with a called strike three. However, Robert made a risky move by using a challenge as early as the third on a borderline call. When I say borderline, I am serious, as ABS showed the pitch missed outside by less than one-tenth of an inch. Given how close that pitch was, it likely was not a great idea to challenge it. However, Robert’s decision worked out, and two pitches later, he launched a two-run homer to make the score 4-1.
Castillo proceeded to walk Brett Baty, and he allowed a single to Marcus Semien to wrap up his day. Castillo threw 80 pitches in 2 2/3 innings, and 42 of those happened in the third, which he did not manage to complete.
The White Sox put a nice rally together in the bottom of the third, when Tristan Peters launched a deep fly ball that resulted in an interesting moment. On the first pitch Peters saw, he hit a fastball to right that Benge followed to the wall. For an instant, Benge seemed to have it, but he collided with the wall, and the ball popped loose and sailed over the fence for a solo homer.
Drew Romo followed with a single, but Sam Antonacci struck out looking before burning an early challenge. After that, Munetaka Murakami singled, and Miguel Vargas walked to load the bases. Incredibly, that was one of four walks for Vargas, who reached base safely in all five of his plate appearances. From there, Andrew Benintendi hit a sacrifice fly to narrow the deficit to one.
The score remained 4-3 until the top of the fifth, when Benge crushed a solo homer to add an insurance run against reliever Tyler Schweitzer. Jared Young followed with a double, and although Robert grounded out, Eric Wagaman and Semien hit back-to-back RBI singles to make the score 7-3.
The White Sox got one of those runs back in the bottom of the fifth, but they missed an opportunity to get a huge inning. Romo was hit by a pitch to open the inning, and Antonacci walked. Murakami struck out, but after a wild pitch and a walk, the South Siders had the bases loaded with one out. This time, Benintendi missed out on an RBI opportunity, as he struck out. However, Braden Montgomery worked a six-pitch walk after falling behind 0-2 to drive in a run and extend the inning for Colson Montgomery. With the score 7-4, Colson crushed a 1-0 cutter over the heart of the plate deep down the right field line. This swing nearly resulted in an enormous grand slam, but Colson barely failed to keep the ball fair, so it was merely a long strike. Colson would eventually strike out looking at a sinker near the middle of the zone.
In the bottom of the sixth, once again, the White Sox picked up a run, and tell me if you have heard this before, but they could have scored more. Chase Meidroth led off with a single, and Peters drew a walk. Romo followed with a sacrifice bunt that put two in scoring position. Next up was Antonacci, who hit a high chopper to third that was placed perfectly. That resulted in an RBI infield single, and the White Sox still only had one out. Murakami struck out looking, but Vargas walked to load the bases and put the potential tying run in scoring position. Benintendi stepped up to the plate and lined the first pitch he saw to left. Initially, that liner looked like it could be trouble, but Robert tracked it down to preserve New York’s 7-5 lead.
Deadline acquisition Huascar Brazobán struck out Young to open the top of the seventh, but Robert did not make things easy on Brazobán. Robert saw a 2-2 fastball over the middle of the plate and did not miss it, as he crushed it 417 feet for his second homer of the day and his ninth of the season.
The score remained 8-5 until the top of the ninth, when the Mets put the game completely out of reach. White Sox reliever Trevor Richards pitched a scoreless eighth, but the ninth was a struggle. Young led off with a double, and although Richards retired Robert with a ground out, Luis Torrens hit a two-run blast to extend New York’s lead to five. Meanwhile, although the White Sox had a solid offensive performance with five runs on nine hits, they finished 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Ultimately, the White Sox could not keep up with New York’s bats.
The rubber match is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. CT on Sunday. The probable starters are Sean Newcomb (2.44 ERA, 3.04 FIP, 1.5 fWAR in 70 innings) and Nolan McLean (3.34 ERA, 3.61 FIP, 2.6 fWAR in 142 2/3 innings). As usual, CHSN will televise the game, and ESPN Chicago WMVP 1000 AM will have the radio coverage. We hope to see you then.
MVP
Miguel Vargas (3B): 1-for-1, 4 BB, 0.14 WPA
Runners-Up
Tristan Peters (CF): 1-for-3, HR, BB, K, 0.13 WPA
Braden Montgomery (RF): 1-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, BB, K, 0.08 WPA
Drew Romo (C): 1-for-1, HBP, SAC, 0.10 WPA
Chase Meidroth (2B): 2-for-5, K, 0.02 WPA
Cold Cat
Luis Castillo (RHSP): 2 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 3 K, -0.30 WPA
Runners-Up
Colson Montgomery (SS): 0-for-5, 4 K, -0.17 WPA
Munetaka Murakami (1B): 1-for-5, 4 K, -0.13 WPA
Tyler Schweitzer (LHRP): 3 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 1 K, -0.14 WPA
Trevor Richards (RHRP): 2 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 1 K, -0.01 WPA
Huascar Brazobán (RHRP): 1 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K, -0.06 WPA
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