On a dreary Wednesday afternoon at Citi Field, one of the worst teams in baseball played one of the best. It was just hard to tell which was which.

The Mets committed a pair of errors, and starter Griffin Canning couldn’t make it past the third as they fell to the White Sox, 9-4, to snap a four-game winning streak. The defensive lapse led to two unearned runs for the White Sox, owners of the second-worst record in baseball.

Two former Yankees did the most damage: Andrew Benintendi went 3-for-5 with two runs and four RBIs and Mike Tauchman was 2-for-5 with a run, two RBIs and a walk.

Canning, who came into the day with a 2.88 ERA in 10 starts this year, had his worst outing of the season, allowing five runs, three earned, on four hits and four walks, with three strikeouts over three innings. After locating well early in the year, Canning has issued eight walks over his last 5 2/3 innings.

The Mets went 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left 11 on base in a game they never led. Former Mets prospect Mike Vasil, lost in the Rule 5 draft, threw three scoreless innings in relief.

“If this is us struggling [with runners in scoring position] and we’re winning games, imagine when we’re not,” said Mark Vientos, who hit a third-inning three run homer. “I don’t think the whole season is going to be like this. That’s just baseball. You’re always waiting for that hot streak and I know it’s coming for us."

The White Sox nicked Canning early and often. After Tauchman walked with one out in the first, Miguel Vargas doubled to the corner in left to put runners in scoring position for Benintendi, who singled to right to give them the 2-0 lead.

In the second, though, it was the Mets defense that betrayed them.

Korey Lee hit a grounder to third that Brett Baty threw wide for the error and then Josh Rojas hit a grounder to second that Jeff McNeil knocked down with his bare hand; his shuffle to Francisco Lindor, though, was late, putting two batters on with no outs. Canning got the next two outs but Tauchman smacked a two-run double to right to make it 4-0.

The White Sox scored another in the third. With runners on second and third and one out, Rojas hit a grounder on the grass toward first that Pete Alonso gloved; Rojas retreated toward home before the tag, long enough to chase Lenyn Sosa home.

“Not very good, not very competitive there,” Canning said of his outing. “I just think I’m not being competitive enough in the zone, probably trying to make too good of pitches instead of attacking guys.”

The Mets finally made a dent against White Sox ace and Rule 5 draft pick Shane Smith in the bottom of the third. Smith issued back-to-back leadoff walks to Brandon Nimmo and Juan Soto and, with two outs, Vientos hammered a 1-and-2 fastball 368-feet to right for his sixth homer of the season to cut the deficit to 5-3.

After an excellent sophomore season, Vientos has been inconsistent this year, hitting .235 and .190 in his last seven games – likely a result, Carlos Mendoza said, of the league adjusting to him before he’s adjusted back (yet).

“When I can get a fastball like that and hit it the other way with authority, I’m in a good spot,” said Vientos, who last homered on May 11. “I’ve just got to keep working.”

The White Sox added two more runs in the sixth, and one each in the seventh and eighth – capped by Benintendi’s solo homer off Brandon Waddell, who allowed four runs over five innings. Alonso doubled in Nimmo with two outs in the ninth.

“We’ve got to get better with runners in scoring position,” said Mendoza; the Mets .211 average with RISP is fourth worst in baseball. “We’re all aware of it. Yes, the underlying numbers [are promising] but at the end of the day, we’ve got to get the job done. Yesterday, we took better at-bats. Today, not so much.”

Sean Manaea is scheduled to throw a live bullpen of about 20-25 pitches at Citi Field Thursday, his first time facing live hitters since going down with an oblique injury in spring training, Mendoza said.

Paul Blackburn (knee) threw what is likely his final rehab start with Triple-A Syracuse Wednesday, going 6 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on four hits and two walks with four strikeouts over 84 pitches; he posted a 2.70 ERA in four starts with Syracuse.

“We have a decision to make there,” Mendoza said. “That’s what we’re going to talk about here. We have an off day tomorrow, then we go through [10 straight games], so we’ll probably look at inserting a sixth man at some point there. His name is going to be in the conversation.”