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 Mets completed a sweep of the White Sox with a 2-0 win at Guaranteed Rate Field.
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.
Manaea 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.
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 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 the workload for Crochet over the last month. The 25-year-old All-Star had never logged more than 54 1/3 innings in the big leagues prior to this season, his second since returning from Tommy John surgery and his first full campaign in the big leagues.
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 (73-64) 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).
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