Mets fail to sweep White Sox in 9-4 loss at rainy Citi Field

Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News on May 28, 2025

Published in Baseball

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NEW YORK — The Chicago White Sox entered Wednesday afternoon’s series finale at Citi Field with the second-lowest batting average and fifth-fewest runs among MLB teams.

Their .206 average with runners in scoring position was the lowest in the majors. They totaled five runs in their first two games against the Mets.

But the White Sox’s offense came alive on Wednesday — and cashed in multiple Mets miscues — on an all-around dreary day at Citi Field for the home team.

The Mets committed a pair of costly errors, surrendered 12 hits and issued six walks in their 9-4 loss, denying them a sweep of the cellar-dwelling White Sox.

And it didn’t go much better for the Mets’ offense, which went 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position. Juan Soto, meanwhile, went 0 for 4 with a walk and a strikeout and heard a smattering of boos from a sparse crowd after a seventh-inning groundout.

Mets starter Griffin Canning allowed five runs (three earned) on four hits and four walks in three innings.

His first walk went to Mike Tauchman with one out in the first, kicking off a White Sox rally. Miguel Vargas followed with a double, and Andrew Benintendi jumped on first-pitch change-up for a two-run single.

The White Sox also cashed in after back-to-back errors by third baseman Brett Baty and Jeff McNeil put two runners on base to begin the second inning. Both runners would score on a two-out, two-run double by Tauchman, giving Chicago a 4-0 lead.

It was the second straight uneven outing by Canning, who issued four walks in 2 2/3 innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday. The right-hander was charged with three runs that night, though all of those runs scored with reliever Max Kranick on the mound after Canning exited due to an extensive rain delay.

Before Friday, Canning had not surrendered more than two runs or lasted fewer than five innings in any of his previous six starts. He took the loss Wednesday to fall to 5-2 with a 3.23 ERA.

The Mets cut the deficit to 5-3 when Mark Vientos lined a three-run home run against red-hot Chicago rookie Shane Smith with two outs in the bottom of the third. The opposite-field blast snapped a 12-game homer-less drought by Vientos, who recorded only one RBI and two extra-base hits during that stretch.

Smith, who entered with a 2.36 ERA in 10 starts, lasted a career-low 3 2/3 innings and matched his career worst with three earned runs. He walked five and struck out five.

The White Sox tacked on four more runs against long reliever Brandon Waddell, including on a two-out RBI triple by Andrew Benintendi in the sixth inning and a solo home run in the eighth. Benintendi went 3 for 5 with four RBIs and finished a double shy of the cycle.

Pete Alonso added a two-out RBI double in the ninth. The Mets are now hitting .211 with runners in scoring position this season.

Soto finished the three-game series 0 for 10 with two walks and an RBI. That RBI was a big one, as his eighth-inning sacrifice fly in the series opener tied the score in an eventual 2-1 win.

But Soto is now hitless in his last 16 at-bats, dropping his season average to .224.

Wednesday’s game was originally scheduled to start at 7:10 p.m., but it was moved up to 1:10 p.m. due to rain in the forecast. A steady drizzle fell throughout the game, but there were no delays.

The Mets (34-22) took two of three from the White Sox (18-38), who are again the American League’s worst team after setting an MLB single-season record with 121 losses last year.

Next up for the Mets are the Colorado Rockies — the only MLB team worse than the White Sox — who entered Wednesday at 9-46 and are on pace to shatter Chicago’s dubious 2024 loss record.

That three-game series at Citi Field begins Friday.