Luis Castillo struggled again and Luis Robert Jr. had his first multi-homer game in two years.
Yeah, it was a rough night for the White Sox, who lost 10-5 to the Mets on Saturday.
In his fourth Sox start, Castillo only lasted 2 2/3 innings, giving up four runs and homers to Robert and Bo Bichette. Acquired Aug. 1 from the Mariners, Castillo’s only completed five innings once and allowed five home runs with the Sox.
Brought in to be a veteran anchor and provide some experience to an otherwise-green staff trying to nail down a division title, Castillo has not yet justified the investment by general manager Chris Getz to grab him from Seattle. Other than his 10-strikeout game against the Reds, Castillo has lacked put-away stuff with the Sox.
Against the Mets, Castillo threw strikes on 51 of his 80 pitches but only struck out three. The Bichette and Robert home runs were both hit with two strikes, as was Carson Benge’s run-scoring single in the first.
“They were taking good at-bats. They were hitting a lot of foul balls,” Castillo said through a translator. “I was attacking the zone. The best part is that I’m feeling good.”
Robert was probably feeling even better. He homered twice in a game for the eighth time in his career and first since Aug. 16, 2024, when he was with the Sox.
Starting in left field for the third time in his career, Robert had trouble with the sun on Miguel Vargas’ first-inning shallow fly and let it drop for a single. Robert and the Mets recovered by retiring Vargas after he went too far rounding first base.
Then Robert flashed the power that once made him a tantalizing Sox prospect. In the third, Robert reached out to poke a 95.6 mph Castillo four-seam fastball to right-center field to give New York a 4-1 lead. As Robert rounded the bases, he was booed by many of the 30,705 in attendance.
“Yesterday, I felt a little weird hearing [the boos],” Robert said through a translator. “I felt it to be a little bit strange, but today it was pretty normal. Yesterday, I wasn’t expecting it but today it was pretty normal to hear.”
Robert made that trip again in the seventh, but even more emphatically.
Castillo was long gone, and Sox reliever Huascar Brazoban threw Robert a thigh-high 98 mph four-seam fastball over the heart of the plate. Robert launched it 417 feet to left with a 109 mph exit velocity and clearly enjoyed what he had done, watching the drive as he slowly began making his way to first base.
“It feels good to hit homers against any team, to be honest with you,” Robert said. “I will say it did feel good to hit the home runs here just because it was a stadium that I played so many games in my whole career.”
It was probably irritating to the Sox to see him hit two home runs, but his direct impact on their season will end when the Mets leave.
Castillo will be around longer and figure much more into how this season plays out. If he can recapture some of the form that made him a three-time All-Star, the Sox could have something. If not, then the rotation will still be short.
The Sox won’t be overhauling what -Castillo does, but simply working to get him at his best.
“As an athlete we have good days and bad days [and] it was a bad day today,” Castillo said. “That’s what I’m thinking.”