OAKLAND, Calif. — The Chicago White Sox now have a place in the American League record book.
It’s one they were desperately trying to avoid.
The Sox joined the 1988 Baltimore Orioles as the only AL teams to lose 21 consecutive games after falling 5-1 to the Oakland Athletics in front of 4,971 Monday night at Oakland Coliseum.
“Everybody knows what it is, it’s 21 in a row — it sucks, it’s not fun, it’s painful, it hurts,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “You name it. However you want to describe it.
“It’s not for a lack of effort. Nobody wants to come out here and lose. We’ve just got to put a good game together and put this behind us.”
The Sox and ’88 Orioles are tied for the second-longest losing streak in major-league history since 1901. Only the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies had a longer slide, losing 23 straight.
“No one wants to lose,” said left fielder Andrew Benintendi, who went 1-for-3 with one RBI. “Pissed about one loss, let alone 21. So, show up tomorrow.
“The good thing about baseball is you have to have a short memory. I think all of us do and if you don’t, you don’t succeed. Can always go back on that and realize you can’t change it now. It’s done with. Get them tomorrow.”
At 27-88, the Sox are 61 games under .500 for the first time in franchise history.
Speaking of firsts, left-hander Ky Bush made his major-league debut — allowing three runs on two hits with three strikeouts and five walks in four innings. He also hit one batter.
“It was a great experience, got the first one out of the way,” Bush said. “A little amped up, but happy to debut and be here. Overall, a great experience.”
Bush walked three in the first inning while loading the bases with one out. He limited the A’s to just one run in the inning on a sacrifice fly.
The Sox tied it at 1 with an RBI single by Benintendi in the fourth. The A’s came right back with two runs in the bottom of the inning.
The A’s loaded the bases with one out with a double, a walk and a batter getting hit by a pitch. Max Schuemann drove in two with a single, putting the Sox in a 3-1 hole.
Pinch hitter Lawrence Butler added a solo home run in the sixth against reliever Chad Kuhl. The A’s tacked on a run in the eighth after catcher Korey Lee threw to first base to complete a strikeout on a dropped third strike, and Zack Gelof took off for home and beat the return throw to the plate.
“(Gelof) kept his feet moving over there at third base,” Grifol said. “He shuffled back a little bit. It was a heads-up play. Korey looked him back, made a strong throw to first base, it was just late at the plate.”
While the A’s found different ways to score, it was another quiet night at the plate for the Sox. A’s starter JP Sears and two relievers limited the Sox to four hits.
“I thought we did a good job keeping the game within distance for the (nine) free passes that we gave,” Grifol said. “We just couldn’t muster anything offensively.
“We had a good day offensively yesterday (in Sunday’s 13-7 loss to the Minnesota Twins), today we didn’t have a good day. But it’s not for a lack of effort.”
The Sox have scored three runs or fewer in 15 of their 17 games since the All-Star break.
They joined the 1916 Philadelphia A’s (25-89-1) as the only teams in MLB history to lose 88-plus times in the first 115 games of a season.
“Just try to turn the page and look forward to the next day, bounce back,” said Corey Julks, who went 1-for-2 and also made a nice leaping catch in right field in the fourth inning. “Don’t dwell on the losses, try to learn from them and get better.”
