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White Sox lose 21st straight game, tying AL record set by 1988 Baltimore Orioles, falling 5-1 to A's

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Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

Chicago White Sox players react from the dugout during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Oakland Athletics in Oakland, Calif., Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

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.

ā€œWe talk about it every day,ā€ White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said of the streak. ā€œEverybody knows what it is. Itā€™s 21 in a row. It sucks. Itā€™s not fun. Itā€™s painful. It hurts. You name it. However you want to describe it. Itā€™s not for lack of effort. Nobody wants to come out here and lose, so weā€™ve 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.

ā€œYou just try to turn the page,ā€ outfielder Corey Julks said. ā€œLook forward to the next day, bounce back, donā€™t dwell on the loss, just try to learn from them and get better each day. ... Weā€™re just trying to rally as a team and find a way to get a win.ā€

Tyler Nevinā€™s first-inning sacrifice fly put the Aā€™s 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 Shusterā€™s 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 Vaughnā€™s throw skipped past Lee.

ā€œOur 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 weā€™re 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.

ā€œI thought his outing was great,ā€ Kotsay said. ā€œFive 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 Maryā€™s College in Moraga.

ā€œGot the first one out of the way,ā€ Bush said. ā€œObviously, a little amped up. But happy to debut and just be here.ā€

TRAINERā€™S 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 Aā€™s RHP Ross Stripling (2-10, 5.64).

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB


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