The Cuban gardener Luis Robert Jr. starred in a memorable night this Saturday as he returned to Rate Field in Chicago as a visitor and hit two home runs against the White Sox, the team with which he spent the first six seasons of his Major League Baseball career.
According to journalist Francys Romero on his social media, the baseball player born in Guantánamo first punished the Dominican Luis Castillo in the third inning with a two-run hit, and then repeated the feat in the seventh against Huascar Brazobán with a solo shot of 417 feet.
Robert Jr. concluded the game with two hits in five at-bats and three runs batted in, making a significant contribution to the victory of the New York Mets by a score of ten to five.
It was also his first multi-home run game in two years, a performance that took on special symbolic weight due to the venue: the same stadium where the Cuban built his career from 2020 to 2025 before being traded to New York.
With the two hits on Saturday, the center fielder reached nine home runs in the 2026 season with the Mets, a team he joined after the trade finalized on January 21 of this year in exchange for infielder Luisángel Acuña and pitcher Truman Pauley.
In that trade, the Mets took on Robert Jr.'s $20 million salary for this season, with a club option for another $20 million in 2027.
The game also featured home runs from Bo Bichette, Carson Benge, and Luis Torrens for the Mets, while Braden Montgomery and Tristan Peters answered with solo homers for Chicago.
Christian Scott took the mound for New York and allowed four runs in four and two-thirds innings, with six strikeouts.
During his six seasons with the White Sox, Robert Jr. accumulated 102 home runs, 298 runs batted in, and 102 stolen bases in 577 games, figures that place him 23rd in the franchise's history for home runs.
He reached the milestone of 100 home runs in Major League Baseball in August 2025, still wearing the Chicago uniform, before the organization decided to trade him to New York just a few months later.
The return to Rate Field was marked by a performance that will be hard to forget for those in the stands: two home runs against his former team in the stadium he called home for years.
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