CHICAGO (AP) – Noah Syndergaard put aside trade talk to turn an eighth-inning lead over to his relievers, and the New York Mets rebounded from another bullpen meltdown when Jeff McNeil and Michael Conforto hit consecutive home runs in the 11th for a 5-2 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night.
In their first game since trading for All-Star pitcher Marcus Stroman, the Mets extended a winning streak to five games for the first time since April 2018. After falling to 40-51, the Mets have won 11 of their last 15 games to move within the outer edge of the NL wild-card race.
New York dealt pitcher Jason Vargas to Philadelphia on Monday and there has been speculation Syndergaard or Zack Wheeler could be jettisoned before Wednesday’s trade deadline. Syndergaard tweeted a GIF on Sunday of an actor who played Thor – his nickname – in a movie with the words “I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT’S GOING ON” superimposed.
Given a 2-0 lead, he allowed an unearned run in the sixth when third baseman Todd Frazier bobbled Jose Abreu’s two-out grounder, allowing Yolmer Sanchez to score. The 26-year-old right-hander, who is not eligible for free agency until after the 2021 season, struck out a season-high 11 in 7 1/3 innings.
Seth Lugo relieved with the bases loaded and got Abreu to ground in to an inning-ending double play.
Edwin Diaz then blew a save for the fifth time in 28 chances when he walked Ryan Goins leading off the ninth, threw a wild pitch as Eloy Jimenez struck out, hit James McCann with a pitch, threw another wild pitch, then allowed a sacrifice fly to Tim Anderson.
Amed Rosario singled off Jose Ruiz (1-2) leading off the 11th for his fourth hit, and McNeil greeted Josh Osich with his 11th home run – his first this year off a left-hander, The drive barely cleared the fence in right-center.
Conforto homered two pitches later, giving him home runs in three straight games.
Robert Gsellman (2-2) pitched perfect two innings. The Mets had lost their previous five extra-inning games since beating Detroit on May 25.
Chicago starter Reynaldo Lopez allowed two runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings. The White Sox have lost six of seven. They were 41-42 before play on July 4 but are 5-16 since.
New York built its lead on RBI groundouts by Tomas Nido in the second and Robinson Cano in the fourth.
