Giolito and DeGrom duel, South Siders fall short, 4-2

A pitching duel is what was expected, a pitching duel is exactly what we got. Unfortunately, Jacob DeGrom and the New York Mets came out on top, 4-2, in tonight's battle with Luca Giolito and the Chicago White Sox.

DeGrom found himself in some trouble early, after back-to-back singles from Yolmer Sánchez and Leury García, followed by a walk to Ryan Goins, loading the bases with one out in the third inning. That brought up José Abreu, who hit a sac fly to give the White Sox a 1-0 lead.

A.J. Reed followed that with a four-pitch walk, again loading the bases. This time Eloy Jiménez stood at the plate, but couldn’t come through, as DeGrom struck him out to end the inning.

Giolito sailed smooth until the sixth. A leadoff walk to Michael Conforto would come back to bite him, as Robinson Canó singled, followed by a Wilson Ramos grounder to third. Ryan Goins decided to throw home, but couldn’t catch Conforto, tying the game 1-1. Gio was able to get out of the inning after J.D. Davis grounded into a double play.

Gio was due to bounce back tonight, and that’s just what he did: Seven innings of one-run baseball, with nine strikeouts, three hits and three walks. It was a solid and much-needed outing for him. DeGrom for the Mets was just as good navigating through seven innings of one-run baseball with 11 strikeouts, five hits and two walks.

In the eighth inning, the South Siders slipped into another scoring opportunity. Goins reached on an infield single and Welington Castillo took a walk with one out. Jiménez got ahead 3-0, but ended up striking out.

And things got more unfortunate from there: Jon Jay’s grounder, destined for the outfield, hit second base ump Stu Schuerwater, making the ball dead (umpire interference). Instead of a run, Goins went back to third, Castillo to second, with Jay on first. Tim Anderson had a two-out, sacks-packed opportunity, but grounded out to short to end the inning.

Time for the ninth inning, with Alex Colomé entering a tie game a proceeding to see it un-tied, quickly. Wilson Ramos reached first from an error by Anderson, which was followed by back-to-back singles from Davis and Todd Frazier, the latter scoring Aaron Altherr (pinch-running for Ramos).

Colomé retired his first by striking out Amed Rosario, but chased that with a walk to Adeiny Hechavarría. Jeff McNeil struck out for the second out, but Conforto drove in two with a first-pitch hit. None of the runs Colomé were earned due to Anderson’s error, but the closer would get tagged with the loss, and was bounced from the game. With the Mets leading 4-1, Jimmy Cordero got the final out, ending the abrasive ninth.

Edwin Díaz shut it down for the Mets, but not before Leury García took him deep with two outs. Unfortunately, that didn't matter as the White Sox weren't able to complete the comeback.

The second half of the season is NOT what I was expecting it to be so far. Here’s a breakdown of how bad it has been.

The loss puts the White Sox on a 71-91 pace for the season.

It’s Dylan Cease vs, Zack Wheeler tomorrow afternoon at 1:10 CT, as Cease looks to avert a sweep before the White Sox hit the road. Leigh Allan has your SSS coverage; catch the game on NBC Sports Chicago and listen on 720 WGN-AM.