QUEENS, NY — Andrew Benintendi went 3-for-5 with a home run, triple, and four RBI, and the Chicago White Sox jumped all over Griffin Canning early to avoid a sweep and beat the Mets 9-4 on Wednesday afternoon at Citi Field.
Mike Tauchman added a pair of doubles and two RBI for the Sox (18-38), who snapped a three-game losing streak.
The loss ends the Mets’ (34-22) four-game winning streak, though a concerning trend of poor pitching continues. The nine runs allowed marked a season-worst, with this being the third time in the last 10 games that they conceded seven or more runs. They had given up seven-plus runs just once in their first 46 games.
Mark Vientos accounted for the bulk of the Mets’ offense with a three-run home run in the third inning. His side was limited to just five hits all afternoon, the final being Pete Alonso’s consolation RBI double in the bottom of the ninth.
Canning lasted only three innings, his second straight outing in which he did not see the fourth inning. He allowed five runs (three earned) on four hits with four walks and three strikeouts.
“Not very competitive out there,” Canning said. “I kind of just let the team down with how I set the tone… It just sucks.”
The White Sox scored twice in the first and second innings to take immediate control of the series finale.
Benintendi drove in a pair with a one-out RBI single, scoring Mike Tauchman, who walked, and Miguel Vargas, who doubled.
Brett Baty’s throwing error from third baes and Jeff McNeil’s booted grounder at second put the White Sox’s two lead-off men on in the second. They came around to score on Tauchman’s double down the right-field line — both unearned on Canning’s ledger.
“We have to be better,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We made some mistakes that, especially at this level, if you give the other team some extra outs, it changes the whole game. We’ve got good defenders… A play that we don’t make, they made us pay for it.”
Chicago added a fifth when Lenyn Sosa, who led off the third inning with a double, came in to score three batters later on Josh Rojas’ groundout.
The Mets finally made White Sox starter Shane Smith pay for his lack of control in the third inning. After walking Brandon Nimmo and Juan Soto to lead off the frame, Vientos went the opposite way and snuck his sixth home run of the season just over the right-field fence to make it a 5-3 game.
“I think so,” Vientos said when asked if his swing is close to where he wants it to be. “If I can get a high fastball like that the other way with authority, I’m in a good spot.”
Smith walked five in his 3.2 innings of work, which also featured five strikeouts and just two hits allowed.
Mets reliever Brandon Waddell pitched five innings to preserve the bullpen, though he was undone by Benintendi on multiple occasions. The veteran outfielder knocked in his third RBI of the afternoon with an RBI triple in the sixth. He sent a no-doubt liner into the right-field seats in the top of the eighth for his sixth round-tripper of the season.
