Justin Verlander pitched his best game with the Mets as New York defeated the Chicago White Sox, 5-1, on Wednesday night.
Here are the takeaways…
- Verlander rolled, giving up just one hit through the first six innings. He used his fastball effectively, especially in the early innings, getting the free-swinging White Sox hitters to get weak contact and strikeout.
His one mistake came in the seventh inning when Luis Robert Jr. pulled a slider 405 feet into left-center field. He got into a little trouble, allowing runners to reach first and second with two outs, but picked up a strike out to get out of the inning.
This is the second time that Verlander reached eight innings with the Mets. The first was his May 24 start against the Cleveland Guardians. Wednesday, Verlander went eight innings (100 pitches), giving up one run on three hits, on walk and striking out seven.
- Brett Baty hit his second home run in as many days, in the third inning -- the first time he’s done that in his career. His blast gave the Mets a 1-0 lead, but the rookie got more involved in the scoring.
In the fourth, Pete Alonso led off with a walk before Jeff McNeil found his way on after a hit-by-pitch. Francisco Alvarez, coming off his two-homer performance, singled home a run to give the Mets a 2-0 lead. Daniel Vogelbach walked to load the bases and Baty grounded into a fielder’s choice to push the lead up to 3-0. Luis Guillorme pushed home a run after a sac fly and Brandon Nimmo doubled in the fourth run of the inning.
- The "Baby Mets" put their stamp on this game in support of Verlander. Baty finished 1-for-3 with the home run, two runs and two RBI. He also made some very good defensive plays.
Alvarez continued his hot hitting, finishing 2-for-4 with an RBI and run. Over his past seven games, the rookie catcher is 9-for-24 (.375) with three home runs, and seven RBI.
- Adam Ottavino entered to finish the game off in the ninth. He got the White Sox out 1-2-3, his second straight clean inning pitched, to complete the 5-1 win and extend the Mets' winning streak to three.