Tylor Megill pitched 5 1/3 strong innings in his return to the rotation, J.D. Martinez homered and Jesse Winker had three hits to lift the visiting New York Mets to a 5-1 win against the Chicago White Sox on Friday.
New York won for the third time in four games to remain three games behind the Braves for the third National League wild-card spot. Atlanta won at Philadelphia earlier on Friday.
Chicago managed just five hits, including one for extra bases, en route to its eighth straight defeat. The White Sox took their 105th loss of the season and are one shy of tying the franchise record set in 1970.
The White Sox must win 12 of their remaining 26 games to avoid matching the 1962 Mets for the most losses in modern major league history (120).
Four New York pitchers followed Megill with 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. Edwin Diaz worked a perfect ninth in a non-save situation.
Recalled from Triple-A Syracuse before the contest, Megill yielded one run and five hits in his first major league action since July 31. Megill (3-5) walked one and struck out six.
Chicago took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Andrew Benintendi doubled home Nicky Lopez, who led off the game with a walk.
New York didn’t trail for long. Two singles and a walk loaded the base for the Mets in the second before Chicago starter Jonathan Cannon struck out Francisco Alvarez. The White Sox then completed an apparent inning-ending double play that was overturned on replay review, allowing a run to score for a 1-1 tie.
A two-out rally produced three runs in the New York third. Pete Alonso walked and scored on Winker’s double. Winker came home one batter later when Martinez drilled a home run to left-center field for a 4-1 lead.
Mark Vientos’ run-scoring sacrifice fly in the ninth provided the final margin.
Cannon (2-9) lost his fourth consecutive start. The rookie right-hander gave up four runs and five hits in five innings with four walks and three strikeouts.
Martinez had two hits for New York. Mets leadoff man Francisco Lindor went 1-for-4 with a double and walk, extending his on-base streak to 28 games.
