The All-Star break mercifully arrived for the Chicago White Sox — but not before another loss.
The Sox were swept for the 13th time this season with Sunday’s 9-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates in front of 16,501 at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Joey Bart hit a three-run home run in the fourth inning to give the Pirates a 4-2 lead. They put the game out of reach with a four-run seventh inning.
The Sox had to adjust early during their bullpen day when Michael Soroka exited in the third inning with right shoulder soreness. Soroka had entered the game for the final out of the second. He threw one pitch in the third and left with the injury.
At 27-71, the Sox are a season-high 44 games under .500. They have lost the most games before the break in MLB history.
“I think this is a much-needed break for everybody,” left fielder Andrew Benintendi said. “Just get away and get your mind off it for a little bit. It’s not the first half we wanted, but we’ve just got to keep showing up, playing hard.”
Here are three takeaways from the three losses to the Pirates.
1. The Sox saw another lead vanish.
Sunday marked the 34th time this season the Sox were defeated after leading at some point during the game.
They had leads of 1-0 after the first inning and 2-1 after the third.
Before the game, manager Pedro Grifol said many factors have contributed to not closing games out.
“You can’t pinpoint it in one area because there have been times where we’ve made mistakes mentally and physically on the field defensively,” Grifol said. “There have been times where we have not executed a game plan. There have been times where (a) physical mistake on the pitching end, we leave a ball out over the plate. There have been times where we have had opportunities to get a big hit in the fourth or fifth or sixth that would give us instead of a four-run lead would give us a six- or seven-run lead.
“So, it’s a little bit of everything. I really want to focus on that killer instinct, see the game in a way where, ‘OK, this (at-bat) right here can close this game out. This pitch right here can close this game out. This play right here can close this game out.’ It’s one of those where on all facets of the game we have to have that mentality where, ‘We are winning this game and the ball is hit to me and I’m making this play. We are winning this game and the ball is in the strike zone and I’m going to drive these guys in.’ That’s just a part of the process.”
2. Rookie Jonathan Cannon looks to ‘continue building’ after the break.
Jonathan Cannon didn’t feel all that different working out of the bullpen in Friday’s series opener.
“When I have come out of the ’pen it’s been pretty scheduled and I’ve known it’s coming, so I have it a lot easier than some of the other bullpen guys,” he said.
The rookie followed Garrett Crochet, who had a planned shortened start of two innings. Cannon allowed four runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and two walks in six innings in the 4-1 loss. It was his second relief appearance this season.
“The arm felt good,” Cannon said. “I felt good going out there. Just ran into some trouble, a couple of bad pitches.”
Cannon is 1-4 with a 4.41 ERA in 10 outings (eight starts). He has 39 strikeouts and 13 walks in 51 innings.
He adjusted his approach against left-handed hitters during a stint back down in the minors and has a 3.38 ERA in seven appearances (five starts) since returning from Triple-A Charlotte on June 7.
“I think since I’ve come back, I think my stuff has been a lot better,” Cannon said. “My stuff was pretty good (Friday), it’s just the big leagues and sometimes they get you. Is it what it is, going to the break and look to improve from there.”
Cannon said physically, he feels “great.”
“I think my goal (after the break) is to just to continue building off of every start,” Cannon said. “Just continue to get better. Obviously I haven’t been up here for that long, so just continue to learn what I need to do to be consistent and be successful up here.”
3. The Sox failed to take advantage of early opportunities.
The Sox loaded the bases with no outs in the first inning Sunday with singles by Tommy Pham and Andrew Benintendi and a walk by Luis Robert Jr.
Instead of a big inning, the Sox settled for one run. And that came as Pham scored when Eloy Jiménez grounded into a double play. Gavin Sheets then grounded out to first to end the threat.
The Sox went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left 10 runners on base Sunday.
“We had opportunities early, I’m not saying to blow it open, but we had opportunities to put some real points on the board,” Grifol said. “Let them off the hook a couple of times.”
The Sox were 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position in Saturday’s 6-2 loss and 2-for-8 in Friday’s defeat. They have scored four runs or less in nine of their last 10 games — including all three against the Pirates.
