Sometimes a pitcher runs into tough luck, as Chicago White Sox starter Chris Flexen did in the first inning Tuesday when Shohei Ohtani’s towering fly with an exit velocity of 93.8 mph just landed over the wall for a home run.
And sometimes the right pitch isn’t enough, as was the case in the third inning when Flexen surrendered a two-run home run to Freddie Freeman on a low-and-away fastball.
It’s been that type of year for the Sox, who reached the halfway point of the season with yet another defeat — falling 4-3 to the Los Angeles Dodgers in front of 23,662 at Guaranteed Rate Field.
“That was a tough one to lose,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “We had a chance to win there. This was a very winnable game.”
The Sox saw an early 3-1 lead slip away as they lost for the 30th time in their last 37 games. At 21-60, they are off to the worst 81-game start in franchise history (previously 27-54 in 1934 and 1948).
“Obviously tough record,” Flexen said. “Battled some injuries, battled some inconsistencies. Overall we’re going to continue to fight. It’s all you can do. Put your best foot forward and keep pushing on and focus on winning games, continue to pull for each other and battle.”
Tuesday’s defeat secured another series loss, the 20th of the season for the Sox. The team is 0-11-1 in its last 12 series.
The Dodgers jumped out in front with Ohtani’s homer leading off the game, a ball that just eluded right fielder Tommy Pham.
The Sox displayed some power in the bottom of the first behind Andrew Benintendi’s two-run homer, part of a three-run inning.
But the Sox couldn’t cash in on many more opportunities. They had runners in scoring position in the second, third, fifth and seventh, but failed to score in all. The Sox went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
“We had a lot of traffic,” Grifol said. “Just couldn’t capitalize with runners in scoring position and men on base. They have pretty good pitching over there, too.”
The Dodgers tied the game at 3 in the third on a two-run homer by Freeman. Ohtani gave the Dodgers the lead for good in the fourth with a two-out RBI single.
“I thought it was a good pitch (to Freeman), bad count (2-1),” said Flexen, who allowed four runs on six hits with three strikeouts and three walks in 5 2/3 innings. “I fell behind a good hitter. And then obviously Ohtani’s home run (in the first), bad pitch, he hit it 93 mph (exit velocity, according to MLB Statcast). It rarely gets out, just tough luck there.”
Ohtani went 2-for-4 with a walk and two RBIs. The home run was his 17th in 37 career games against the Sox.
“Game management is the way to go with Ohtani,” Grifol said. “He’s extremely dangerous because when he mis-hits balls, they go.
“So you just have to make sure you circle his name and don’t let him beat you. But you also have some good hitters behind him as well.”
The Dodgers did just enough to drop the Sox to 6-16 in one-run games. That’s one of the many rough stats through 81 games this season.
“It’s been tough,” Benintendi said. “It might look a lot uglier than it actually is. We’ve played a lot of one-run ballgames. But we’ve got 81 games left, just keep trucking, keep working on things, keep getting better.”