The White Sox avoided a sweep with a hittting masterclass

The Good Guys win, 9-4, in the series finale

A sweep? We don’t know her! The White Sox avoided a sweep in a blowout against the Mets for the afternoon matinee.

The Sox struck first in Queens. It started with a one-out walk to Mike Tauchman, followed by a double from Miguel Vargas.

Andrew Benintendi sent both runners home with a single to right.

Brandon Nimmo got a one-out hit at the bottom of the frame, and Pete Alonso got plunked on the elbow with two outs. Brett Baty saved the day for the White Sox by going down on strikes and stranding the runners.

Korey Lee singled on a breaking ball to lead off the second. He reached after Baty botched a throw to first, pulling Alonso off the base. The infield had the chance for a double play, but Jeff McNeil couldn’t field a hit from Josh Rojas, and both runners were called safe. Tauchman made the Mets pay for the two errors with a two-out, RBI double, putting the Sox up, 4-0. Vargas picked up a walk after Griffin Canning opted to pitch around him. Benintendi went down on strikes to end the second, but not before reaching a full count and extending Canning’s pitch count to 55 through two innings.

Shane Smith gave up back-to-back, one-out walks. Tyrone Taylor avoided the double play by beating out a grounder, putting runners at the corners with two outs. Smith reached his fourth full count of the game on Francisco Lindor, but a pop-up would strand the runners.

Lenyn Sosa easily made it to second with the fourth White Sox hit of the game, three of which had been doubles. Edgar Quero drew a walk as a follow-up. Lee advanced baserunners with a sac bunt, and Rojas sent a runner home with a ground out to first.

Michael A. Taylor picked up a two-out walk, and at 76 pitches for Canning, the bullpen phone started ringing. Chase Meidroth ended the momentum with a fly out.

Smith once again gave up back-to-back walks, this time to Nimmo and Soto before striking out Alonso for the first, and much needed big out. The walks came back to haunt Smith as Mark Vientos launched a home run to right field, and suddenly the Mets were in the game, only trailing by two runs.

Vargas drew a one-out walk in the top of the fourth, and Sosa singled with two outs to keep the frame alive. But a scoop by Baty at third would leave runners stranded. Smith continued with the detrimental walks, this time walking Luis Torrens again, but finally ended the curse of back-to-back walks after striking out Taylor. Despite Lindor’s fly out, Smith was pulled at 86 pitches, and Brandon Eisert entered for the last out of the frame.

Mets relief pitcher Brandon Waddell, who entered the game in the fourth, retired the Sox in order to start the fifth. With two outs, Baty allegedly got hit by a pitch. The White Sox challenged the very questionable call, but the ruling on the field stayed. Thankfully, Vientos struck out swinging instead of tying up the game.

Tauchman drilled a ball to right field for an easy double — his second of the game — with one out in the sixth. Vargas hit a grounder straight to Lindor, and Tauchman ran into an easy out at third. Benintendi tripled an aggressive Vargas home, putting the Sox up by three.

Sosa followed up with a single to keep the inning going, and giving the Sox another run before Quero ended the top of the frame.

Mike Vasil, who at one time was New York’s top pitching prospect, came in to pitch for the White Sox in the bottom of the sixth. He allowed one walk, but had back-to-back strikeouts.

The White Sox hits continued into the seventh, with a single from Lee and a double for Rojas with no outs. A sac fly from Taylor sent Lee home.

Nimmo singled, again, but Vasil closed out the seventh with ease against the heart of the order.

Benintendi kept the offense up in the eighth with a solo home run.

McNeil doubled in the bottom of the eighth with one out, but Vasil shut down the next two batters, getting both to strike out swinging.

Desperate for a quiet inning, Ryne Stanek failed the Mets with a two-out walk issued to Taylor. Meidroth extended his on-base streak to 15 with a single before Tauchman ended the inning with a fly out. Nimmo picked up a one-out walk, and Soto grounded out again, encouraging the Citi Field boo birds. Unfortunately, Miguel Castro seemed to have rolled his ankle covering first base to get the second out of the ninth, and had to be helped off the field. Bryse Wilson came in and gave up an RBI double to Alonso and walked Baty, but got Vientos to strike out and end the game.

Lastly, an update on Castro.

The White Sox are off tomorrow before starting a three-game set in Baltimore.

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Futility Watch

White Sox 2025 Record: 18-38, tied for the second-worst start in White Sox history and tied for the 73rd-worst start in baseball history. A 18-38 record projects to 52-110 over a full season. A year ago, the record-breaking White Sox were 15-41.

All-Time White Sox Record (1901-2025, 19,262 games) 9,612-9,650 (.4990). It’s been 100 games since the White Sox had an all-time winning record.

Record Since the New Pope Was Revealed as a White Sox Fan 8-10

• Race to the Worst “Modern” 162-Game Record (2024 White Sox, 41-121)
• Race to the Worst “Modern” Record in a 162-Game Season (1962 Mets, 40-120-1, finished three percentage points worse than the 2024 White Sox)
• Race to the Most White Sox Losses (2024, 121)
• Race to the Worst White Sox Record (2024, 41-121)

11 games better, in all cases

Race to the Worst Post-1899 Record (1916 A’s, 38-124 adjusted to 162 games) 14 games better

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