Justin Verlander took the mound on Wednesday night at Citi Field looking to rebound the start he described as “inexcusable” against the Dodgers. After struggling with his control and allowing six walks for the first time since 2017 in a loss against the Dodgers, Verlander was brilliant on Wednesday night in the Mets’ 5-1 win over the White Sox, allowing just four baserunners over eight innings as the Mets won their third consecutive game.

Verlander cruised on Wednesday night, getting through eight innings on exactly 100 pitches. The future Hall-of-Famer limited the White Sox to just one run on three hits and a walk while striking out seven batters.

The White Sox did not have an answer at all for Verlander over the game’s first six innings. He retired the first nine White Sox to start the game, and after a leadoff single by Andrew Benintendi to start the fourth inning, he retired the next 10 White Sox.

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The lone run for the White Sox came in the seventh inning when Luis Robert Jr. hit his 28th home run of the season to break up Verlander’s shutout bid. The White Sox threatened in the eighth after a walk and an infield single, but Verlander struck out Carlos Pérez to strand the two runners with the four run lead intact.

Verlander did a masterful job of controlling the strike zone. Of his 100 pitches, 76 were thrown for strikes. The outing was an important turnaround after walks burned him in his last start.

“He had all his pitches,” Buck Showalter said of Verlander following the win. “When he felt he could exploit something, he went with it.”

Brett Baty got the scoring started for the Mets in the bottom of the third inning when he connected on his second home run in as many days. The homer came after he made a terrific defensive play in the top of the inning to take a hit away from Oscar Colás. It was the first time in Baty’s career that he homered in back-to-back games.

The Mets added four more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Francisco Álvarez drove in a run with an RBI single before Baty drove in his second run of the night on a fielder’s choice groundout. After a sacrifice fly by Luis Guillorme, Brandon Nimmo drove an RBI double to left field to drive in Baty.

The second consecutive big night from the offense gave Verlander the ability to attack the zone and work deep into the game.

“The offense did a great job early on,” Verlander said. “Getting a big lead like that, four or five runs, is paramount to a starting pitcher being able to go deep in the game.”

With a four-run lead in the ninth inning, the Mets turned to Adam Ottavino to close out the game. He retired the White Sox in order to close out the victory and give the Mets the series win. With the win, the Mets improved to 45-50 on the season.

Player of the Game: Justin Verlander

After the high-scoring victory for the Mets on Tuesday, Verlander set the tone for the Mets’ 5-1 win early on Wednesday night. He held the White Sox to just one single over the game’s first six innings. The White Sox lone run came from one of the best young hitters in the game in Robert Jr., and when Chicago threatened on after a walk on a borderline 3-2 pitch and an infield single, Verlander got a big strike out to escape the jam in the eighth.

Verlander mentioned the possibility of the Mets having “one of the best turnarounds in the history baseball” in an interview with The Athletic on Tuesday. There is plenty of work still be done to make that possibility a reality, but Verlander regaining his Cy Young-form would certainly be a huge boost for the Mets.

On Deck

The Mets will look to finish off a three-game sweep of the White Sox on Thursday afternoon at 1:10 p.m. ET. José Quintana will make his Mets debut against Michael Kopech (3-8, 4.47 ERA) for Chicago.

Quintana signed with the Mets in December after pitching to a 2.93 ERA over 32 starts with the Pirates and Cardinals in 2022, but has been on the injured list since March 30 with a left rib fracture. The Colombian left-hander signed with the Mets as an international free agent in 2007, but made his MLB debut with the White Sox in 2012.

The game will be broadcast on SNY and nationally on MLB Network, and the radio call will be on WCBS 880.