The Chicago White Sox are riding a franchise-record 15-game home losing streak, and even more unwelcome historical records are looming in the next few weeks.
The White Sox (33-114) will aim for their first home win since Aug. 12 when they begin a three-game series against the Oakland Athletics on Friday.
Oakland (64-83) will finish with its third consecutive losing season, but the team has gone 34-29 since June 27. The Athletics took the first two games against the Houston Astros this week before losing 6-3 on Thursday in the series final.
Oakland’s promising young roster includes right fielder Lawrence Butler, who is batting .373 (31-for-83) with 17 runs, eight home runs and 14 RBIs during his career-best 20-game hitting streak.
“Our goal at the start of the season was to improve,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. “It’s nice that the wins and losses are showing the improvement. I like to look at it in terms of the development aspect and maturation process of these guys becoming everyday big-leaguers as opposed to wins and losses.”
Chicago must finish 10-5 or better to avoid matching the 1962 New York Mets for the highest single-season loss total in modern baseball history (120).
“Everyone in there is aware of where we’re at from a record (standpoint),” White Sox interim manager Grady Sizemore said. “If you’re sitting there only focused on the negative, you’re probably going to have negative outcomes. It doesn’t do us any good to sit here and be like, ‘We have to win this many games to avoid whatever.’ We have to compete every night.”
Second baseman Lenyn Sosa has been a rare bright spot for Chicago, which lost 6-4 to the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday. Sosa is batting .296 with eight RBIs over his past 18 games.
Chicago, which has lost 17 of its past 19 games, struck out a season-high 18 times on Wednesday.
“Everyone in this organization is extremely unhappy with the results of this season. That goes without saying,” White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said. “This year has been very painful for all, especially our fans. We did not arrive here overnight, and solutions won’t happen overnight, either.”
The series opener will feature two left-handed starters as Chicago’s Garrett Crochet (6-11, 3.83 ERA) faces Oakland’s Brady Basso (0-0, 1.93).
Crochet, 25, has not pitched more than four innings in any of his past 11 starts as the White Sox limit his workload.
Crochet allowed four runs over two innings in a 7-5 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Saturday. He is 1-0 with no runs allowed in two career relief appearances, covering 2 2/3 innings, vs. Oakland.
Basso, 26, impressed in his first major league start Saturday, allowing three hits over six scoreless innings in a no-decision against the Detroit Tigers. He struck out six and walked one.
“I thought the kid did a great job,” Kotsay said. “It was impressive. Just an incredible job by a young man, really poised on the mound, really impressive day.”
Basso, who has not faced the White Sox in his career, has allowed two runs over four games (one start) covering 9 1/3 innings this season.
Oakland is expected to activate Tyler Soderstrom prior to the series opener. The first baseman has been on the injured list since July 11 due to a stress reaction in his left wrist.
–Field Level Media
