CHICAGO — Garrett Crochet was exactly as advertised Sunday afternoon, but so was Sean Manaea.
The Chicago White Sox got their ace on a strict pitch count, which was unfortunate given that this could have been an entertaining pitching duel if they hadn’t relieved him with one out and two on base in the fourth inning. But Crochet took the loss after giving up a leadoff home run to Francisco Lindor shortly before being relieved, and the Mets completed a sweep of the White Sox with a 2-0 victory at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Manaea (11-5) was even more masterful than Crochet, blanking his childhood White Sox team in seven innings, allowing just two hits. He retired the first 11 batters he faced, walking Lenyn Sosa to give the White Sox their first runner on base with two outs in the fourth inning.
In total, he struck out five batters, allowed two walks and hit a batter, but the Mets stranded two of those runners, stealing Sosa for the third out in the fourth and catching Luis Robert Jr. stealing in the seventh.
Manaea faced runners on the corners in the seventh inning after that steal when he walked Andrew Vaughn and singled to Gavin Sheets. Sheets hit a fly ball to left field and Jesse Winker was just short of trying to catch, allowing Vaughn to reach third with two outs.
Manaea got Miguel Vargas to sink a third out, with Winker making an easy catch.
Crochet set a team record by striking out the first seven batters he faced. The first hit he allowed was Lindor’s home run, his 29th of the season. Lindor hit the first pitch of the fourth inning into the left-field bleachers.
The shortstop is now one home run and five stolen bases away from his second straight 30-30 season.
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 Crochet’s workload over the past month. The 25-year-old All-Star had never logged more than 54 1/3 innings in the major leagues before this season, his second since returning from Tommy John surgery and his first full major league campaign.
Jose Iglesias and Mark Vientos hit back-to-back singles off Crochet after Lindor’s home run, but Crochet retired Pete Alonso and Gus Varland retired Winker, replacing Tyrone Taylor and J.D. Martinez.
Chicago used three relievers to keep the Mets from scoring until the ninth inning, when Justin Anderson gave up a run with two outs. Martinez walked and Pablo Reyes, called up in September, came in to bat. He scored from first base on a double by Starling Marte that hit the right-center field wall.
Crochet (6-10) allowed one earned run on three hits and struck out eight in 3 1/3 innings.
The Mets (73-64) faced little resistance from the White Sox hitters. Reed Garrett held the lead in the eighth inning and Edwin Diaz struck out all three batters in the ninth inning for the save (16).
