The Chicago White Sox had plenty of opportunities to bail out the pitching staff, and had the pitching staff been able to hold the line at any point, you might've been able to point the finger at the run production unit, rather than the run prevention one. However, the pitchers acquired before the deadline, Luis Castillo and Huascar Brazoban, continued their suboptimal production. Meanwhile, old friend Luis Robert Jr. had himself a night, hitting two home runs. Every time it appeared the White Sox hitters were countering, the Mets bats punched back.
In the end, the Sox would've needed to double their output to even get the game to extras, losing the second game of the series 10-5.
A.J. Ewing got the party started for New York when he led off the game with a single to left field, and then later stole second base. With two outs, Carson Benge made enough contact on Castillo’s sinking changeup to slice a single to left field. Ewing scored, and the Mets took an early 1-0 lead.
The Mets' advantage wouldn't last long. Braden Montgomery annihilated Mets starter Christian Scott’s inside cutter for a solo home run to right field. Montgomery’s fifth home run of his rookie season traveled 419 feet. If the Goose were still around, it would have been in danger.
But Castillo couldn't find the right strikeout pitch. In the third inning, Castillo allowed a solo home run to Bo Bichette. With the pitch count rapidly climbing, it appeared that Castillo was done when he struck out Robert looking. But Robert Jr. challenged the strike call, and ABS deemed the pitch to be barely off the corner (<0.1 inch) to stay alive. Two pitches later, Robert belted a two-run homer to right-center.
It didn't get better for Castillo. Brett Baty walked and Marcus Semien singled. After throwing 42 pitches in the third inning, manager Will Venable threw in the towel for his starter. The idea was that Castillo would be able to eat innings for a taxed bullpen even if he couldn't entirely rediscover his old form, but instead, the veteran starting pitcher acquired to handle this task is still a liability.
Tyler Schweitzer struck out Francisco Alvarez to finally end the third inning, stranding two runners to spare Castillo's final line -- 2.2 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K -- more damage. Yet Schweitzer was only marginally more effective than Castillo, allowing three runs over 3 ⅓ innings himself.
Robert's second home run came in the seventh inning off Huascar Brazoban. Since joining the White Sox, Brazoban has allowed 11 hits and six earned runs over nine innings.
Ten runs is a lot for any offense to overcome, but the White Sox had multiple opportunities with the bases loaded. For a brief moment, it appeared that Colson Montgomery hit a dramatic grand slam in the fifth inning. Alas, his deep fly down the right field line sailed foul, and Montgomery ultimately struck out looking.
There was some good fortune for the White Sox. Tristan Peters hit a deep fly to right field that Benge appeared to make a great catch at the wall. But as Benge collided into the outfield wall, the ball popped out of his glove over the wall, resulting in a home run for Peters.
Fitting for the night’s theme, Benge evened the outcome by hitting a home run himself. The Mets always had an answer.
Game Notes
- Miguel Vargas had a great OBP night by walking four times. He committed his 10th error of the season with a bad throw with two outs in the seventh to extend Brazobán's inning, but didn't result in additional runs.
- Munetaka Murakami went 1-for-5 with four strikeouts.
- Colson Montgomery also struck out four times.
- Andrew Benintendi had three plate appearances with the bases loaded. He went 0-for-2 with a sac fly.
- White Sox hitters went 1-for-10 with RISP.
Record: 67-62 | Box score | Statcast
