Robert Jr. Goes Deep Twice as Mets Hammer White Sox 10-5
Luis Robert Jr. hit two home runs and drove in three, and the Mets sent five balls over the fence in a 10-5 win over the White Sox on Saturday. The story of the night was a third-inning eruption that turned a tight game into a rout before Chicago could blink.
New York wasted no time. Carson Benge singled to left in the first, scoring Ewing to put the Mets up 1-0. Chicago answered immediately in the second when Braden Montgomery launched a 419-foot shot to right to tie it at one. Then the third inning happened, and this game was effectively over. Bichette led off with a 378-foot homer to left, and two batters later Robert Jr. crushed a 405-foot shot to center that also scored Benge — a two-run blast that swung Chicago's win probability from 47% to 26%, a 21-point collapse in a single swing. The White Sox clawed back with a Peters homer to right center and a Benintendi sacrifice fly to make it 4-3, but that was as close as they'd get.
The fifth inning buried Chicago for good. Benge added his own solo shot — 403 feet to right — then Wagaman and Semien each singled home runs to push the lead to 7-3. The White Sox kept fighting, with a Montgomery walk and an Antonacci infield single bringing the score to 7-5 by the sixth, but New York's bullpen slammed the door. Austin Warren worked 1.2 innings without allowing an earned run, striking out three, and Kodai Senga added a clean inning with two more strikeouts. Robert Jr. put any remaining doubt to rest with his second homer of the night — 417 feet to left in the seventh — and Luis Torrens capped the scoring with a two-run shot to right in the ninth to make it 10-5 final.
Christian Scott was shaky in his 4.2 innings — four earned runs, four walks, though he did punch out six — and Tyler Schweitzer lasted just 3.1 innings for Chicago, allowing three earned runs on five hits. But the pitching story is secondary here. Benge went 3-for-5 with a homer and two RBI. Robert Jr. went 2-for-5 with two homers and three RBI. Torrens came off the bench and went 1-for-1 with a two-run shot. This looks like a lineup that is simply too deep for a White Sox team that couldn't sustain any of its three separate comeback attempts. Five home runs, ten runs, and it wasn't particularly close after the third.