Mets blank White Sox, 2-0, to finish series sweep

CHICAGO — Garrett Crochet was exactly as advertised Sunday afternoon, but so was Sean Manaea.

The Chicago White Sox had their ace on a strict pitch count, which was too bad considering it could have been an entertaining pitcher’s duel had they not lifted him with one out and two on in the fourth inning. But Crochet took the loss after giving up a leadoff home run to Francisco Lindor shortly before he was lifted, and the New York Mets completed a sweep of the White Sox with a 2-0 win at Guaranteed Rate Field.

The Mets (73-64) finished a 10-game road trip through San Diego, Arizona and Chicago 7-3, and remain 2.0 games behind the Atlanta Braves for the final wild-card slot.

“We knew, coming in here, especially after playing the Padres and the Diamondbacks, that we needed to keep the intensity and we needed to stay locked in,” said manager Carlos Mendoza. “I’m proud that guys were able to do it one day at a time. Finally, getting this last one 2-0 was important for us.”

Maybe it was throwing in front of friends and family or maybe it was facing Crochet, but either way Mendoza saw a more intense version of the laid-back Manaea on the mound Sunday.

“He rose to the occasion today,” Mendoza said. “You could see a different demeanor on the mound today. In those first four or five innings, he was like, ‘Give me the ball, and I’m going right after you.'”

Manaea (11-5) was even more masterful than Crochet, shutting out the White Sox, his childhood team, over seven innings, allowing only two hits. He retired the first 11 batters he faced, walking Lenyn Sosa to give the White Sox their first baserunner with two outs in the fourth.

Overall, he struck out five, walked two and hit one, but the Mets erased two of those baserunners, picking off Sosa for the third out in the fourth and catching Luis Robert Jr. stealing in the seventh.

After relying on an improved changeup and a fastball with more vertical movement in his recent starts, Manaea had more success with his sinker this time out and went back to his slider, mixing both in with his sweeper. He saw the White Sox hitters rolling over on the sinker and decided to go with it until it didn’t work anymore.

“I was going to keep throwing until they were going to do something with it, and then I would throw everything else,” Manaea said. “So I kept throwing it.”

The lefty faced runners on the corners in the seventh after that pickoff when he walked Andrew Vaughn and gave up a single to Gavin Sheets. Sheets hit a line drive to left field and Jesse Winker was just short trying to make the catch, allowing Vaughn to reach third with two outs.

Manaea got Miguel Vargas to pop up a sinker for the third out, with Winker making an easy catch.

“I saw something different today out of Manaea,” Mendoza said. “Going against one of the better arms in the league, he showed us something today.”

Crochet set a team record by striking out the first seven hitters he faced. The first hit he gave up was the homer to Lindor, his 29th of the season. Lindor drove the first pitch of the fourth inning into the left field seats.

The shortstop is now one home run and five stolen bases away from his second straight 30-30 season.

“All I thought was ‘put the ball in play,'” Lindor said. “It was either hit my shin again or put the ball in play. He was extremely tough today.”

After the White Sox (31-107) opted not to trade the left-hander to a contender at the deadline, the team decided to gradually reduce the workload for Crochet over the last month, wanting to save the 25-year-old’s arm in his second since returning from Tommy John surgery and his first full campaign in the big leagues.

This outing was short as well, though the Mets were impressed by nearly all of the 56 pitches he threw.

“He threw me a 99 MPH fastball that cut as much as any other cutter slide that he’s got,” Lindor said.

Jose Iglesias and Mark Vientos hit back-to-back singles off Crochet following Lindor’s home run, but Crochet struck out Pete Alonso and Gus Varland retired Winker, pinch-hitting for Tyrone Taylor, and J.D. Martinez.

Chicago used three relievers to hold the Mets scoreless until the ninth, when Justin Anderson gave up a two-out run. Martinez walked and Pablo Reyes, a September call-up, pinch-ran for the slugger. He scored from first on a double off the right-center field wall by Starling Marte.

Crochet (6-10) allowed one earned run on three hits and struck out eight over 3 1/3 innings.

The Mets faced little resistance from White Sox hitters. Reed Garrett held the lead in the eighth and Edwin Diaz struck out the side in the ninth for the save (16). Diaz pitched in four of the last five games, signaling that the Mets are done protecting him and ready to let the trumpets blare as loud and and often as possible.

“That’s why we protected him throughout the year,” Mendoza said. “Now, it’s go-time.”

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