NEW YORK -- David Robertson had arguably one of the worst appearances in his solid late-inning relief career this past Saturday in Kansas City.
He allowed six runs on four hits and two walks over two-thirds of an inning in the ninth and watched a 7-1 lead turn into a shocking 8-7 defeat to the Royals. That painful moment didn't stick very long with Robertson, who pitched a perfect ninth with two strikeouts during the White Sox 6-4, come-from-behind victory over the Mets on Tuesday night at Citi Field.
"Man, that's just part of being a reliever," Robertson said. "You have a bad game, you've just got to push it out of the back of your mind and get ready for the next day -- because you're going to get more than two appearances, and you're not going to win them all. You just do your best and hope you come out on top."
"It's not like the other day changes anything," said White Sox shortstop Tyler Saladino, whose two-run homer in the eighth stood as the game-winning shot. "If we were in the same situation the very next day, you wouldn't think any different. He's the guy to be in there, and we are ready to get three outs and win a ballgame."
• 'A team hit': Saladino comes to Sox rescue
Robertson's 13th save completed four scoreless innings for a recently maligned White Sox bullpen, featuring Zach Putnam, Dan Jennings and Nate Jones in the lockdown mix. It also helped end a seven-game losing streak and set the team up for a chance at its first series win in the past seven.
"Definitely a much better feeling than we've had the last few days," Robertson said. "Knowing that we're going to get the final out and get a win, it feels nice. We've been playing really hard, but things just haven't worked out. We hit a little bump in the road, but hopefully today's a start toward getting us back on track."