Robbie Grossman drilled a hard-hit grounder to the shortstop side of second base to begin the sixth inning Saturday at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Cincinnati Reds second baseman Santiago Espinal had Grossman shaded close to the bag and made a nice play just beyond the dirt to get a glove on the ball. Espinal couldn’t corral it, and Grossman reached for an infield hit.
That was the first of only two hits on the day for the Sox in a 5-0 loss to the Reds in front of 22,598.
It was another lackluster offensive performance as the Sox were blanked for a major-league-leading fifth time this season.
“Regardless of whether guys are out (because of injury) or not, we’ve got to go about our business, we’ve got to put in the work and we’ve got to show up ready to play every day,” designated hitter Gavin Sheets said. “It can’t be a press. We’ve got to continue to put the work in and come ready to play every day.
“I promise everybody’s working. I promise everybody’s trying to get it going. I fully believe that we’ll get it going.”
The Sox have lost eight of nine and at 2-12 matched the 1968 team for the worst 14-game start in franchise history.
“The injuries (to Luis Robert Jr., Yoán Moncada and Eloy Jiménez) are tough,” starter Garrett Crochet said. “We are all thinking of those guys and can’t wait until we get them back. That’s baseball. Everybody goes through that at some point or another. We’ve gone through it every year since I’ve been here, but that’s the name of the game. It’s always next-man-up mentality.
“And for us right now, just a tough skid.”
Reds starter Nick Lodolo and relievers Fernando Cruz and Brent Suter combined for 15 strikeouts. Lodolo surrendered one hit while striking out 10 in 5 2/3 innings. The left-hander allowed one walk and hit two batters in his season debut.
“Lodolo was good, but I’ve said this over and over again — those are the guys you have to beat if you want to do anything,” Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “He was good, don’t get me wrong. It’s a tough angle and it’s a good slider and a good fastball. He was pounding the strike zone, just couldn’t get anything going.”
Crochet had a career-high 10 strikeouts. But he didn’t display quite the sharpness of his first three starts, allowing five runs on four hits with three walks in 4 2/3 innings.
“I felt like I was searching for something the first two innings just because my command wasn’t there but I chalked that up to more of not being as competitive in the zone as I have been,” Crochet said.
“I was focusing too much on hitting spots and not enough on throwing strikes. With the three walks, you could tell that came back to bite me.”
All of the damage came in the second.
Crochet struck out the side in the first, but four of the first five batters reached in the second. That stretch included a two-run single from Luke Maile.
Crochet appeared close to getting out of the inning with limited damage but didn’t get the call on a 3-2 pitch to Jonathan India. The two-out walk loaded the bases for Spencer Steer, who cleared them with a double to give the Reds a 5-0 lead.
The Reds finished with four hits, all in the second inning, while striking out 15 times.
The Sox hit some right on the button, including Sheets — who was robbed of extra bases when right fielder Stuart Fairchild made a sensational diving catch in the fourth inning.
“Unfortunately the guy in right who made that catch was my college roommate,” Sheets said. “I’m going to have some words for him tonight. He’s a great athlete and obviously their defense, their outfield has been playing really well all series. They got (Martín Maldonado) and (Paul DeJong) last night (Friday), so they’re making really good plays.”
The Sox finally broke through the hit column in the sixth with Grossman’s single. The other hit came in the ninth, a one-out single from Kevin Pillar. He was picked off first later in the inning.
“A good move by their lefty (Suter),” Grifol said. “Just caught us off guard. It’s not an ideal situation, but it happened.”
The less-than-ideal slide continues for the Sox.
“We’re 14 games in and it’s important to continue to put our work in,” Sheets said. “You’ve got to trust your ability and that’s what we need to do.”
