White Sox walk off Mets again on Peters home run

Tristan Peters had been in the situation before, up to bat with a chance to win a game for the White Sox.

And once again, the outfielder came through.

Peters hit a walk-off solo home run with one out in the ninth inning on Sunday to lift the Sox to a 2-1 victory against the New York Mets in front of 27,721 at Rate Field.

“It’s what you dream of as a kid,” Peters said. “You make up those scenarios in your head when you’re little, and now I get to be in those situations.

“They’re high pressure, but at the end of the day, it’s a lot of fun.”

The Sox won two of three in the series, both in walk-off fashion with catcher Jake Rogers hitting a two-run game-ending home run in Friday’s 6-4 victory.

The Sox have 11 walk-off wins this season, with Peters providing a game-winning single in the 10th inning against the Toronto Blue Jays on April 3, a walk-off walk in the 11th inning on July 30 against the New York Yankees and Sunday’s home run.

“Walk-offs mean good things happen, obviously,” manager Will Venable said. “And yet another example of these guys just continuing to battle.

“The fans and the support from the city and the environment that’s been created, makes these walk-off moments a little more special.”

The first-place Sox (68-62) remain 3 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Cleveland Guardians (65-66) in the American League Central. Cleveland topped the Colorado Rockies 7-2 on Sunday.

Pitching was the story for most of Sunday’s game at Rate Field. It started with Sox opener Sean Newcomb, who allowed two hits and struck out three in two-plus scoreless innings.

“Just get outs, set the tone for them and put up a couple of zeros,” Newcomb said.

Bulk pitcher Erick Fedde allowed three hits, walked one and struck out two in four scoreless innings.

“I thought (Fedde) was great,” Venable said. “Really had everything working, aggressive with the fastball. Kind of looked like it had some good finish on it.”

Hagen Smith entered with two on and no outs in the seventh. He struck out the next three batters.

“When he’s in the zone, he’s, I don’t want to say unhittable, but it’s hard to square him up,” Venable said.

Mets starter Nolan McLean was equally effective at keeping the Sox from scoring. The right-hander allowed one hit, struck out six and walked four in six scoreless innings.

“McLean was really tough to deal with, he had everything working,” Venable said.

He worked out of trouble in the third, striking out Andrew Benintendi with the bases loaded to end the inning.

Benintendi made the most of another opportunity with a runner on base against reliever Daniel Duarte in the eighth inning, driving in Miguel Vargas with a double to right field. Vargas scored from first base, giving the Sox a 1-0 lead.

The Mets tied the score with a one-out rally in the ninth. Carson Benge singled against reliever Gant Taylor, advanced to second when Luis Robert Jr. walked and scored on a single to center by Jared Young.

The Mets loaded the bases with two outs later in the inning. Taylor struck out A.J. Ewing to limit the damage to one run.

“Obviously (Taylor is) a really competitive guy and you give up the run and you’re upset about that,” Venable said. “But you still have a job to do and he’s able to stay focused and do what he had to do.”

Chase Meidroth grounded out to begin the bottom of the ninth, bringing up Peters against reliever Kodai Senga.

“Just trying to be patient because (his) last outing (on Saturday) he was kind of out of the zone, getting the chase,” Peters said. “I know his splitters are very depth-y, so I was trying to see everything up and get a heater at the top of the zone.”

Peters got a fastball on a 3-1 count. And after contact, he was just hoping it would make it over the wall.

“I know to center it’s been tough in this ballpark,” Peters said. “But I also knew the ball was flying today, so I was just telling the ball ‘keep going.’”

It did, clearing the fence for another walk-off win for the Sox.

“(The Mets) got one (in the top of the ninth), we got one right back, so that was good,” Newcomb said. “It shows what we’re all about.”

Kyle Teel, Chris Murphy head out on injury rehab assignments

Catcher Kyle Teel (left ankle sprain) and pitcher Chris Murphy (left flexor strain) will begin injury rehab assignments with Triple-A Charlotte on Tuesday, the Sox announced.

“My goal is just to get out there and make sure my body’s feeling right,” Teel said. “And then it will be go time.”