Justin Verlander Leads the Mets to Victory Against the White Sox

 

On Wednesday night, Justin Verlander delivered an impressive performance, pitching eight solid innings, while Brett Baty hit a home run for the second consecutive game, leading the New York Mets to a 5-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

Baty contributed two RBIs to the Mets' win, and the team is on a three-game winning streak with a 9-4 record in July. Francisco Alvarez, Luis Guillorme, and Brandon Nimmo each added one RBI during a productive fourth inning that resulted in four runs.

The White Sox struggled, posting a 4-9 record for the month.

Verlander (4-5) allowed only one run, a homer by Luis Robert Jr. in the seventh inning, giving up just three hits and striking out seven batters. After issuing six walks in his previous start, Verlander bounced back, walking only one batter and impressively throwing 76 of his 100 pitches for strikes.

The Mets' pitcher dominated early in the game, retiring the first nine batters he faced. Although Andrew Benintendi managed a leadoff single in the fourth, Verlander quickly retired the next 10 batters before allowing Robert's home run. He then walked Jake Burger and gave up a two-out single to Gavin Sheets but recovered by striking out Carlos Perez.

Verlander continued his strong performance, throwing a perfect 1-2-3 eighth inning before Adam Ottavino closed the game with a flawless ninth, although it wasn't a save situation.

Baty set the tone with a homer in the third inning against Touki Toussaint (0-3). In the fourth inning, the Mets capitalized on Toussaint's pitching, sending eight batters to the plate and scoring five runs.

Toussaint, making his first start since July 8, struggled against the Mets' offense, giving up five runs on four hits and four walks while striking out three in six innings. It was his longest start since August 16, 2021, when he was playing for the Atlanta Braves.