CHICAGO -- A day before crushing two home runs against his former team in a 10-5 win over the White Sox, Luis Robert Jr. sat in the visitors' dugout at Rate Field and reflected on the six seasons he called this place home.
It was strange, Robert said, being a visitor to the South Side after nine years in the White Sox organization. It felt good to see his long-term friend Miguel Vargas doing so well. It felt less good when Vargas forced him to pick up the check for their steakhouse dinner.
It was also noteworthy, Robert said through an interpreter, that his first season outside of Chicago was playing out like so many of the ones he endured here: injuries, games missed, opportunities lost.
“Right now,” Robert said, “the most important thing for me is to finish the season strong and just go out there and just try to be the best version of myself.”
One day later, Robert demonstrated precisely what that version looks like in Saturday's win over the White Sox. Batting in the third inning, Robert pushed a two-run homer off Luis Castillo a Statcast-projected 405 feet over the right-center-field fence, eliciting boos from the Rate Field crowd. Four innings later, he pulled a solo shot off former teammate Huascar Brazobán 417 feet to left. More boos.
Those home runs -- combined with shots from Bo Bichette, Carson Benge and Luis Torrens -- kept the Mets in front of Robert’s old team despite a slew of pitching issues.