The Chicago White Sox had their biggest offensive inning of the season, scoring seven runs in the fifth to beat the Los Angeles Angels 7-0 in the home finale Thursday.
The Sox completed their second three-game sweep of the season — and in the process remained tied with the expansion 1962 New York Mets for the most losses in a season during Major League Baseball’s modern era (post-1900).
The ’62 Mets finished 40-120. The Sox are 39-120 with three games remaining this weekend in Detroit.
The Sox’s other three-game sweep occurred April 26-28 against the Tampa Bay Rays.
On the verge of breaking the record, the Sox rallied Tuesday with three runs in the eighth for a 3-2 victory against the Angels, then got a walk-off single Wednesday by Andrew Benintendi in the 10th for a 4-3 win.
Thursday’s game was scoreless entering the fifth. Andrew Vaughn drove in two with a bases-loaded single, and Lenyn Sosa followed with a two-run double.
Sosa scored on a single by Bryan Ramos, who scored on a double by Zach DeLoach. Dominic Fletcher drove in DeLoach with a single.
The seven-run inning, which brought a standing ovation from portions of the 15,678 in attendance, topped the previous season high of six runs, which had occurred twice — most recently in the seventh inning on Aug. 12 against the New York Yankees.
The fifth-inning outburst put Chris Flexen in position for his first win since May 8 against the Rays. Flexen allowed five hits, struck out seven and walked one in 6 1/3 scoreless innings. The right-hander also received a nice ovation from the crowd when he exited.
Flexen ended a 23-start winless streak while, for the third straight day, the Sox avoided history.
