One night after tying the American League record with a 21st consecutive defeat, the White Sox defeated the Oakland A’s 5-1 on Tuesday, a victory allowed for one saving grace.
At least the White Sox can share the burden of holding that dubious AL record with another team, the 1988 Baltimore Orioles. Chicago also finished two losses shy of the major league record set by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1961, losers of 23 straight.
The night began to feel different in the fourth inning when Andrew Benintendi hit a home run to right. He’s posted career-low slugging percentages after signing the largest contract in White Sox history. But he finally came through when it was desperately needed.
The pitching matchup, on paper, presented an opening for Chicago. Oakland’s Ross Stripling has been one of the league’s least effective starters. White Sox rookie Jonathan Cannon has been mostly solid. He went six innings, allowing only one run.
The seventh and the eighth, normally the bane of this White Sox bullpen’s existence, was a breeze. Dominic Leone, in his first game off the IL, threw a seven-pitch seventh. Chad Kuhl needed just eight pitches in the eighth.
Chicago had played a long stretch of non-competitive baseball. They were outscored by 85 runs during their 21-game losing streak. Their minus-251 run differential entering Tuesday was 71 runs worse than the Rockies, the sport’s next worst team.
Getting this win won’t turn the season around, or erase the futility that got them in this situation to begin with. It likely won’t save manager Pedro Grifol’s job. But it did end the dubious losing streak, and it allowed them to avoid infamy, at least for now.
Discussion about this post