NEW YORK — The lyrics to rock band Limp Bizkit’s hit song ‘‘Rollin’,’’ which was played throughout Citi Field in the first inning Tuesday, applied to the Mets as they strung together productive at-bats against White Sox starter Jonathan Cannon.
After being staked to a 2-0 lead by a home run from Miguel Vargas, Cannon — returning to the mound after being scratched Saturday with tightness in his lower back — struck out Francisco Lindor to start his outing before allowing a single to Brandon Nimmo. Juan Soto then lined a ball to center field that Michael A. Taylor couldn’t catch, but it caused Nimmo to stop running. Instead of a base hit, Soto was ruled out after the umpires huddled and ruled he had passed the baserunner in front of him.
But the hits kept coming against Cannon. He allowed a two-run homer to Pete Alonso, a single to Brett Baty, a two-run homer to Jared Young and back-to-back singles to Mark Vientos and Jeff McNeil. Cannon then hit catcher Francisco Alvarez to load the bases but escaped the inning without further damage by getting Lindor to ground out.
He settled down after that and allowed only one run in his next four 4⅔ innings, but the damage was already inflicted in the Sox’ 6-4 loss. All told, Cannon yielded five runs and nine hits, struck out four and walked one in 5⅔ innings.
‘‘We definitely had to make an adjustment,’’ Cannon said. ‘‘We were not expecting them to be as aggressive as they were. They were able to adjust to me a little bit before I could adjust to them. Once we were able to make that adjustment, we had a lot more success.’’
The Sox (17-38), who suffered their ninth loss in their last 12 games, nearly mounted a comeback after an RBI double by Vargas cut the Mets’ lead to 5-4 in the seventh. But with runners on first and second, Edgar Quero struck out to end the inning.
More outfield depth
The Sox have a dearth of outfield depth throughout all levels of their organization. In acquiring Dru Baker from the Rays for catcher Matt Thaiss, general manager Chris Getz said that ‘‘outfield depth is an area we wanted to dial in on for the coming years.’’
Getz said Baker, who had been on the injured list with the Rays’ Triple-A affiliate since April 22 with a left adductor strain, will join Triple-A Charlotte on Wednesday.
‘‘I would imagine that at some point this year [Baker] could help us at the major-league level because of the defensive strength,’’ Getz said, ‘‘and be able to play center field.’’
Notes
Catcher Korey Lee (sprained left ankle) was activated from the 10-day IL before the game. He had been on it since April 10, when he suffered the injury against the Guardians.
Lee said he never had dealt with an ankle injury before, so it took time for him to have full trust in the joint.
‘‘Once I started getting into the nine-inning games, that’s when it started feeling 100% normal,’’ Lee said.
• The Mets moved up the start time of the game Wednesday from 6:10 p.m. to 12:10 p.m. because of projected rain in the New York City area.