OAKLAND, Calif. ā The Chicago White Sox lost their 21st straight game, tying the American League record with a 5-1 defeat to the Oakland Athletics on Monday night as Max Schuemann hit a tiebreaking, two-run single in the fourth inning.
Chicago is on the longest losing streak since the 1988 Baltimore Orioles lost 21 in a row. The NL record since 1900 is held by the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies, who lost 23 straight.
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The major league low belongs to the 1889 Louisville Colonels, an American Association team that lost 26 consecutive games during a 27-111 season.
āWe talk about it every day,ā White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said of the streak. āEverybody knows what it is. Itās 21 in a row. It sucks. Itās not fun. Itās painful. It hurts. You name it. However you want to describe it. Itās not for lack of effort. Nobody wants to come out here and lose, so weāve just got to put a good game together and put this behind us.ā
Chicago, which last won on July 10 in a doubleheader opener against Minnesota, dropped to 27-88 and is on pace to finish 38-124, which would be the most losses since the 1899 Cleveland Spiders of the National League went 20-134. The White Sox have been held to one run or none 32 times.
āYou just try to turn the page,ā outfielder Corey Julks said. āLook forward to the next day, bounce back, donāt dwell on the loss, just try to learn from them and get better each day. ... Weāre just trying to rally as a team and find a way to get a win.ā
Tyler Nevinās first-inning sacrifice fly put the Aās ahead, but Andrew Benintendi tied the score with an RBI single against JP Sears (9-8) in the fourth.
JJ Bleday doubled in the bottom half off Ky Bush (0-1), a 24-year-old left-hander making his big league debut. Zack Gelof walked and Darell Hernaiz was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. Schuemann grounded a single between shortstop and third that bounced into left for a 3-1 lead.
Lawrence Butler hit a sixth-inning homer against Chad Kuhl, his 13th home run this season.
Gelof added a run in the eighth when he sprinted home from first after Jared Shusterās pitch bounced away from catcher Korey Lee as Schuemann struck out. Lee looked toward Gelof at third and threw to first baseman Andrew Vaughn for the out, and Gelof ran home as Vaughnās throw skipped past Lee.
āOur whole plan coming into this series was to continue our focus, focus on the details of the game, play the game the way we know weāre capable of, and we did that tonight,ā A's manager Mark Kotsay said.
Sears allowed three hits in seven innings with five strikeouts and a walk, improving to 5-1 in his last six decisions.
āI thought his outing was great,ā Kotsay said. āFive strikeouts, just one earned run. He managed the game great.ā
Austin Adams and Tyler Ferguson finished a four-hitter that took just 2 hours, 15 minutes, and included eight overall hits.
Bush allowed three runs, two hits and five walks over four innings with three strikeouts. He played college baseball at Saint Maryās College in Moraga.
āGot the first one out of the way,ā Bush said. āObviously, a little amped up. But happy to debut and just be here.ā
TRAINERāS ROOM
White Sox: RHP Dominic Leone (right elbow inflammation) was reinstated from the 60-day injured list. RHP Prelander Berroa and LHP Sammy Peralta were optioned to Triple-A Charlotte.
Athletics: RHP Mason Miller (fractured left pinky finger) threw batting practice and could return from the 10-day IL as soon as Wednesday, according to Kotsay.
UP NEXT
White Sox rookie RHP Jonathan Cannon (1-5, 4.11 ERA) will start Tuesday night opposite Aās RHP Ross Stripling (2-10, 5.64).
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB