It appeared Andrew Vaughn had taken ball four.
But instead of the bases loaded and one out in the sixth inning of Friday’s game against the Oakland Athletics, Vaughn remained in the box when plate umpire Brian Walsh called a strike on a 3-0 pitch that, according to MLB Statcast, missed high.
Vaughn eventually struck out. And the best scoring chance for the White Sox fizzled when Lenyn Sosa lined out to left.
“That was a big swing in the game,” interim manager Grady Sizemore said. “I don’t want to sit there and harp on a strike call or a ball call. You go from bases loaded, one out to two outs and guys on first and second. That got them right back into it.
“Big momentum swing.”
Momentum never went the Sox way in a 2-0 loss to the A’s in front of 26,513 at Guaranteed Rate Field.
It was loss No. 115 for the Sox, extending their franchise record.
The Sox are five shy of tying the 1962 New York Mets (40-120) for the most losses in a season during the modern era with 14 games remaining in the season.
The 115 losses are tied for the fourth most in a season during MLB’s modern era. The Baltimore Orioles finished 47-115 in 2018 and the 1935 Boston Braves went 38-115.
At 33-115, the Sox have the most losses by a team through 148 games in modern-day history. The 1916 Philadelphia A’s are second at 33-114-1.
The Sox were shut out for the 18th time this season while extending their franchise-record home losing streak to 16 games.
“I feel like it’s been like that for us all year, there’s no room for error,” Sizemore said. “The margins have been slim for us. I think we are used to playing that way. It’s not an easy way to play. We just kind of struggled to get that big hit and get those runs when we need it.
“I think the at-bats are still good, but we still aren’t getting the big hit when we need it.”
Athletics starter Brady Basso allowed five hits while striking out two and walking one in 5 1/3 innings for the first win of his major-league career.
Garrett Crochet, making his 30th start of the season for the Sox, allowed one run on three hits with four strikeouts and no walks in four innings. The left-hander threw 56 pitches.
“I felt really good, I feel like that was one of the few times since All-Star break that I was actually pitching,” Crochet said. “Overall, felt good about my stuff.
“I felt like I was able to incorporate a lot of stuff early. Got the slider involved, got the changeup involved, threw a couple sinkers. I just felt like for the most part I was doing what I wanted.”
The A’s scored on a two-out RBI double by Zack Gelof against Crochet in the fourth and an RBI single by Brent Rooker against reliever Gus Varland in the fifth.
Bryan Ramos walked leading off the sixth for the Sox, and with one out Andrew Benintendi singled. That brought up Vaughn, who got ahead 3-0 in the count. Reliever Michel Otañez got the strike call on the high sinker and struck Vaughn out swinging two pitches later.
Sosa’s lineout to left ended the threat. The Sox had one more hit the rest of the game, a Vaughn single in the ninth. He had two of the team’s six hits.
“We didn’t get any big hits when we needed them,” Sizemore said. “Had a couple of good swings throughout the game. We had a chance to get bases loaded with (Vaughn) up and we had a call go against us and that was probably our biggest chance to get a rally.
“Good at-bats together later against (A’s closer Mason) Miller (in the ninth), but still just not enough to get anything. Just not a good day offensively.”
Sean Burke to start Sunday
The Sox announced right-hander Sean Burke will start Sunday’s series finale against the A’s.
Burke allowed one unearned run on three hits with three strikeouts and one walk in three innings while working out of the bullpen Tuesday against the Cleveland Guardians in his big-league debut.
