Fans stood and sang “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” before the bottom of the 14th inning Sunday at Guaranteed Rate Field.
The marathon game between the two teams with the worst winning percentages in the majors carried on and on, leading to the 14th-inning stretch.
The Chicago White Sox mounted rallies in the 10th and 13th innings, but went down in order in the 14th, falling 5-4 to the Colorado Rockies in front of what was left of the announced crowd of 19,334.
“It sucks to end up on the wrong side of a marathon like that,” manager Pedro Grifol said.
It was the longest Sox game in terms of innings since Aug. 2, 2019, when they won in 15 at Philadelphia. That was a year before the extra-inning addition of a runner starting at second base came into effect during the regular season.
“That was a battle back and forth between both sides,” said Sox first baseman Andrew Vaughn, who had a home run and three RBIs. “Just chipping away and in the end they held us out.”
The Sox lost despite their six pitchers establishing a single-game franchise record by combining for 21 strikeouts. The previous record of 20 came in a nine-inning game on April 28, 2019, against the Detroit Tigers. Starter Garrett Crochet had 11 of those strikeouts Sunday in yet another impressive start. He allowed two runs on five hits and didn’t surrender a walk in seven innings.
“I was frustrated early on with the balk (which resulted in a run scoring in the second inning), but was able to bounce back from that,” Crochet said. “Every hitter I face I have to act like it’s my last or else I’m going to end up giving a homer or something that I don’t want to do. I’ve got to make every pitch count.”
Crochet’s outing came amid the backdrop of continued trade speculation, with USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reporting Sunday the Los Angeles Dodgers had previously made an offer that was rejected.
Grifol said before the game that Crochet has handled the trade talks well.
“I see him doing a great job of it,” Grifol said. “You know why? Because he wants to be here. He enjoys it here. There’s something to that. That brings you a little bit of peace. He got drafted here, came to the big leagues here right away, became a starter here and he’s voiced his opinion of how much he likes it here.
“The same thing with (center fielder Luis) Robert (Jr.), I just think it makes it a little bit easier. Because you want to stay here.”
Crochet agreed with Grifol, saying, “definitely” when asked after the game if he’d like to remain with the Sox.
“As far as that (trade) stuff goes, I’m just focused on doing exactly what I’m doing right now, taking the ball here for the White Sox and other than that I don’t really think about it,” Crochet said.
Crochet retired the final 12 batters he faced Sunday.
“He really pitched today, he did a really good job of economizing some pitches,” Grifol said. “After the sixth I told him, ‘You’ve got 10 or 12 pitches left,’ and he just smiled and said, ‘That’s enough.’ So that was really good to see him go out there and shut down that seventh inning.”
The Sox trailed 2-1 in the seventh when Vaughn drew a bases-loaded walk. It remained tied at 2 until the 10th, when both teams scored once.
Rockies center fielder Brenton Doyle made a game-saving diving catch on Tommy Pham’s sinking liner in the 12th.
The Rockies scored in the top of the 13th on a two-out bloop single to right by Ezequiel Tovar. The Sox answered with an RBI single by Robert, knotting the game at 4.
Robert nearly threw out Ryan McMahon in the 14th. But McMahon slid in safely on Michael Toglia’s sacrifice fly to center to give the Rockies the 5-4 lead.
Andrew Benintendi attempted to move Paul DeJong over in the bottom of the 14th but didn’t get down a bunt and eventually struck out looking. Lenyn Sosa and Nicky Lopez followed with groundouts as the Sox (24-62) saw their winning streak end at three.
“I was sitting on the edge of my seat there watching (reliever Michael Soroka) do what he did (six strikeouts over the final four innings),” Crochet said. “Everyone was kind of picking each other up. Tough one to lose, but a good one that we know that we fought hard.”
