The Chicago White Sox will attempt to win for the first time since May 21 when they face the visiting Boston Red Sox on Friday night in the second game of a four-game series.
Boston opened the series with a 14-2 victory Thursday. That was Chicago’s 14th straight defeat, which broke the franchise record for consecutive losses in a season, set 100 years ago.
“It’s difficult, but today is over,” Chicago’s Paul DeJong said following Thursday’s loss. “We can flush it and prepare to win (Friday). That’s all we can really do is control what we can do in the moment. Right now the game’s over. Just go home and rest and get ready to go (Friday).
“Today could be a little different based on the score of the game, but overall I think in the last week we’ve been playing a lot of tight games and just can’t quite pull out that small margin of victory. I think we have to do everything we can each day to win a game. I think that’s what other teams are doing to us, and we have to match that intensity.”
Philadelphia holds the MLB record for consecutive losses in a season — 23 in 1961. Baltimore holds the American League record with 21 straight in 1988.
Chicago has been outscored 97-45 during its 14-game losing streak. The White Sox have lost 18 of their past 19 games.
Boston led 3-0 after two innings Thursday and 7-0 after four.
“We just got down early,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “They came out swinging it, and we faced a pretty good pitcher (Tanner Houck). We just have to regroup and get back after it.”
The White Sox haven’t won since they beat Toronto 5-0 on May 21 to end a four-game losing streak. Left-hander Garrett Crochet, who was the winning pitcher in that game, is scheduled to start Friday for Chicago.
Crochet (5-5, 3.49 ERA) is 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA in four career relief appearances (three innings) against the Red Sox.
Right-hander Cooper Criswell (3-2, 3.92) is Boston’s probable starter. Criswell didn’t figure into the decision in his only career appearance against the White Sox. He allowed a run on three hits in 2 2/3 innings on April 21, 2023, while pitching for the Tampa Bay Rays.
“He’ll give us at least five, probably more,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “The pitching has been good.”
The Red Sox hit three home runs and collected a season-high 24 hits in Thursday’s win. Each of the 11 Boston players who came to the plate had at least one hit. Ceddanne Rafaela led the offense with four hits and four RBIs.
Rafaela leads major league rookies with 37 RBIs.
“It’s nice to see that the hard work we put in pays off,” he said. “When we put it together, these are the types of games we’re going to have, where we pass it to each other. Just keep getting yours. Take as much as you can. It’s fun to have these type of games with my guys. It’s nice to get it going. It’s nice.”
–Field Level Media