Chris Flexen last won on May 8 against the Tampa Bay Rays.
He has made 19 starts since then. And the Chicago White Sox have lost each of the 19 games.
The last came Friday in a 5-2 defeat to the Detroit Tigers in front of 24,012 at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Flexen had a solid outing, allowing two runs on five hits with five strikeouts and two walks in six innings. He did not factor in the decision but became a part of major-league history.
The team’s 19 consecutive losses in games he has started matches the MLB record set by Chris Capuano and the Milwaukee Brewers (May 13, 2007-June 3, 2010). The first 18 during Capuano’s stretch came in ’07, with one in 2010 after missing time because of Tommy John surgery.
The 19-game skid passes the single-season record, which was held by Walt Dickson and the 1912 Boston Braves.
“Continue to battle, that’s all you can do,” Flexen said of the winless streak. “Strive to get better. Each week try to work on stuff. Try not to think about that in the long run, put up some quality starts and give us a chance to win. That’s all you can ask for for the most part. Try to be competitive every time out.”
The Tigers went ahead in the seventh when Matt Vierling knocked in Parker Meadows with a single against reliever Justin Anderson to make it 3-2. Colt Keith added an RBI single later in the inning. The first run of the inning was charged to Fraser Ellard, who suffered the loss.
Flexen allowed one run on three hits in six innings while earning the victory during a 4-1 win against the Rays on May 8 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Since then, he’s 0-9 with a 5.75 ERA and has 10 no-decisions. His winless streak is the longest for a Sox starter since Dan Wright also had a stretch of 19 straight from May 9, 2003, to May 1, 2004.
“At the end of the day, every time I take the mound you’re trying to put up a quality start and put your team in a position to win, have a strong outing,” Flexen said. “Stick to a game plan and be competitive, that’s all I continue to focus on.”
The Sox are 2-23 when Flexen starts. Both of the team’s wins came against the Rays.
“He’s a competitor, he goes out there and he pitches with a lot of fire, a lot of emotion,” interim manager Grady Sizemore said. “He’s been doing a great job for us. Sometimes you just don’t get the luck. Guys have good at-bats or you have tough innings. He’s been grinding here but he’s been taking the ball every time he goes out there. He’s competing.
“Some days we just don’t get the runs for him. Other days it’s just maybe not his night. But overall he’s done everything we asked from him. He’s keeping us in games. He’s pitching well. He never wants to come out. He always wants the ball. He always wants to go out there and keep going. I love the way he competes.”
The Sox fell behind quickly Friday when back-to-back doubles by Riley Greene and Vierling gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead. Dillon Dingler had an RBI single in the second.
The Sox cut the deficit to 2-1 with an RBI single by Lenyn Sosa in the bottom of the second. They tied the score in the fourth with an RBI double by Korey Lee. The catcher had three hits Friday.
Flexen retired 11 of the final 14 batters he faced — with a single in the third, an error in the fourth and a walk in the fifth serving as the only times the Tigers reached during the stretch.
“Threw up a quality start — haven’t had one of those in a while, so it was a sigh of relief there,” Flexen said. “Just try to go out and win, every time I go out I try to do that.”
Ellard walked Meadows leading off the seventh and he later scored on Vierling’s hit. That was the first of two runs in the inning for the Tigers, who added a run in the ninth.
The Sox (31-98) again were foiled in an attempt to win consecutive games, something they haven’t accomplished since a three-game winning streak June 27-29.
“I think you’re seeing guys fighting, having good at-bats,” Sizemore said. “We’ve been playing good defense, we’re running the bases good. We want to see wins, but we want also to see these guys competing and being in every game. Guys are doing that.
“We’re still going to make mistakes and some of these young guys are still learning. We’re not playing our best ball but we’re trying to get to that point where we’re playing our best ball.”
