Luis Robert Jr. Shines with Home Runs Against Former Team

On August 22, 2026, Luis Robert Jr. challenged an inning-ending third strike call during his third-inning at-bat against Chicago White Sox starter Luis Castillo. The call was overturned, providing Robert another opportunity, which he capitalized on two pitches later by hitting a two-run home run. This gave the New York Mets a boost at Rate Field.

After the game, Castillo expressed respect for Robert’s successful challenge and subsequent homer. “Good for him in that situation. He felt obligated to challenge the ball and good for him that he got me right after that,” Castillo said through an interpreter.

Robert continued his stellar performance with another home run in the seventh inning, contributing to the Mets’ 10-5 victory over the White Sox. The match attracted an audience of 30,705 spectators who witnessed Robert shine against his former team. “It feels good to hit homers against any team, but hitting them here feels special as I played many games in this stadium throughout my career,” Robert shared with reporters through an interpreter.

Having joined the Mets following a trade from the Sox in the offseason, Robert went 2-for-5 with two home runs and three RBIs. “He got us good today,” remarked Sox manager Will Venable.

The defeat left the Sox (67-62) leading the American League Central by 3½ games over the Cleveland Guardians (64-66). The Sox pitchers conceded five home runs, including two by Castillo, who struggled with four runs on eight hits, gaining three strikeouts and one walk within just over two innings.

Mired in a second-half slump, Colson Montgomery shows signs of rebounding for the Chicago White Sox.

“We have good days and bad days as athletes; today was a bad day,” Castillo acknowledged. “The opponents were taking productive at-bats and hitting numerous foul balls. I attacked the zone, and fortunately, I’m feeling good as the best part.” Castillo exited after 80 pitches.

Bo Bichette’s solo home run in the third inning established a 2-1 Mets lead. Robert’s subsequent two-run homer extended the Mets’ lead to 4-1, ending Castillo’s game after a walk and single followed. “He threw strikes but couldn’t finish off the batters,” Venable mentioned. “He got ahead of many counts with two strikes, yet they got full and resulted in significant damage.”

Despite a third-inning Tristan Peters solo home run shortening the score to 4-3, the Sox couldn’t maintain momentum, particularly when Carson Benge’s misplay allowed an outfield ball to trickle over the wall. “I thought it was a homer off the bat, then saw he caught it and thought, ‘Dang, I hit that hard,’ before realizing it went over the wall. I was pumped,” Peters reflected.

The gaming continued with a training staff check on Benge, who remained active and homered in a Mets’ three-run fifth inning against reliever Tyler Schweitzer.

White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami strikes out swinging in the fifth inning against the Mets.

The Sox added runs in the fifth and sixth innings, narrowing the gap to 7-5. However, they left the bases loaded in each inning while ultimately finishing 1-for-10 with runners in scoring positions.

“We generated a lot of base runners but couldn’t score big hits,” Venable said.

Colson Montgomery almost crushed a fifth-inning ball foul with bases loaded but ended striking out, and Andrew Benintendi lined out in the sixth, hampering potential rallies. “Good job creating the traffic but just didn’t achieve the big hit crucial for scoring,” Venable remarked.

Gathering nine hits and seven walks, the Sox stranded eleven runners. “The last few days are frustrating since we’ve hit some hard balls directly at the players. Despite frustrations, we hold good offensive potential,” Peters acknowledged.

Providing relief with a seventh-inning solo home run against Huascar Brazobán, Robert proved clutch once more. Luis Torrens further cemented the win in the ninth with a two-run blast against Trevor Richards. This multihomer game marked Robert’s first instance since playing for the Sox back in 2024 on August 16 in Houston.

“Robert is a talented player; errors made to him will result in real damage,” Venable concluded.