The Chicago White Sox had a chance to inch nearer to first place forward of an enormous sequence in opposition to the division-leading Guardians in Cleveland.
Instead, they closed out a homestand with a clunker Thursday in opposition to the Houston Astros.
The Sox surrendered 4 residence runs, together with two two-run homers to Alex Bregman, in a lopsided 21-5 loss in entrance of 24,407 at Guaranteed Rate Field.
A sequence that started with a pair of thrilling wins for the Sox ended with a thud. The 21 runs are essentially the most the workforce has allowed in a sport this season and essentially the most within the historical past of the ballpark.
“Just a brutal day,” Sox supervisor Tony La Russa mentioned.
The Sox additionally surrendered a season-high 25 hits and needed to accept a cut up of the four-game sequence.
“Disappointing,” La Russa mentioned of the cut up. “We have been up two (within the sequence) and (Thursday), you assume the followers had a troublesome time? That’s powerful to take for all of us. That’s a brutal afternoon.
“(Wednesday’s) game, we had a chance and we didn’t get it (losing 3-2). Be thankful for the two but when you win the first two you want more. We have to stay hungry and we were (Wednesday) but (Thursday) it got away early.”
The Sox fell 2½ video games behind the idle Guardians within the American League Central. The groups start a three-game sequence Friday at Progressive Field.
“Obviously I didn’t do my job,” Sox starter Lucas Giolito mentioned. “It was pretty terrible. (Friday’s) a new series, important series. You just forget about (Thursday) and get after it.”
It’s the seventh time in franchise historical past the Sox allowed a minimum of 21 runs in a sport and the primary since Aug. 30, 1970, in opposition to the Boston Red Sox, when in addition they gave up 21 runs. The runs allowed have been tied for the second most in Sox historical past, one shy of the membership report of twenty-two set on July 26, 1931, on the New York Yankees.
It’s additionally the seventh time in workforce historical past that the Sox allowed a minimum of 25 hits in a sport, the primary since Aug. 31, 1974, in opposition to the Yankees when in addition they gave up 25 and one shy of the franchise report set on June 20, 1932, in opposition to the Philadelphia Athletics.
“It just wasn’t a good day for the White Sox, but in this game it’s one day,” La Russa mentioned. “We split with those guys who are really good, and now let’s take care of business in Cleveland.”
Giolito didn’t make it out of the fourth, permitting seven runs on eight hits with 5 strikeouts and a stroll in three-plus innings. He allowed 15 runs in eight-plus innings in his two begins in opposition to the Astros this season.
“I didn’t think my stuff was very good either, but (I) missed locations and they hit it hard,” Giolito mentioned. “That’s generally the story of how it went.”
He gave up a solo homer to Trey Mancini within the second. Bregman drove in two with a two-out double within the third and scored on a Kyle Tucker single on a ball that went off the glove off a leaping Romy Gonzalez at shortstop.
“He’s as responsible as any starter we’ve got,” La Russa mentioned. “He knows he has to get deep into the game. It was cruel when he strikes out (Yordan) Alvarez (for the second out in the third) and then three runs later couldn’t get the third out. They got a lot of two-out runs against us.”
Giolito confronted three batters within the fourth, permitting a double and two singles.
“You take the ball 30-some times and you are going to have a day where it just doesn’t work,” La Russa mentioned. “That was (Thursday). For him, when you have an offense like that, it makes you pay early and often.”
The Astros scored six within the fourth, with two approaching a Bregman homer in opposition to reliever Vince Velasquez.
Bregman hit one other two-run homer in opposition to Velasquez within the sixth and completed with six RBIs.
The Astros scored 4 within the eighth in opposition to reliever José Ruiz and 4 extra within the ninth in opposition to place participant Josh Harrison. The 25 hits matched a franchise report for the Astros, who final achieved the feat Aug. 10, 2019, at Baltimore.
“I think guys did a really good job of not giving any at-bats away,” Bregman mentioned. “It’s August, it’s late in the year, but the guys’ focus was good. We swung at good pitches, and I was proud of our at-bats as a unit.”
While it was a deflating day for the Sox, Yoán Moncada wrapped up a productive sequence with a three-run homer within the fifth. The third baseman had seven RBIs within the 4 video games, together with driving within the go-ahead runs Monday and Tuesday.
The Sox went 5-2 on the homestand, profitable the primary 5 earlier than dropping two. Now the main target shifts to the Guardians, who maintain an 8-5 edge within the season sequence.
“(If) we would have won 25-5, we would have had to move on,” La Russa mentioned when requested concerning the steps to bouncing again after Thursday’s blowout. “You get beat, there’s lots of people upset in that clubhouse. It wasn’t enjoyable. It was powerful.
“They beat us up. They deserve the credit. We take the heat. That’s what I’m doing now before turning the page on to Cleveland.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com