Ky Bush walked two New York Yankees in the first inning and two more in the second.
There were three walks — one intentional — in the fourth inning.
Despite all the traffic, the Chicago White Sox starter exited the July 12 game at Guaranteed Rate Field during the fifth inning with a two-run lead.
The Sox broke the game open with a six-run seventh inning. Brooks Baldwin had the big blast, hitting a three-run home run as the Sox hammered the Yankees 12-2.
Coming into Saturday, that was the last time the Sox had won at home. They’ve dropped 16 straight at Guaranteed Rate Field, the longest home losing streak in franchise history. The previous mark of 12 took place earlier this season, July 10-Aug. 10, and ended with the July 12 victory against the Yankees.
The Sox have lost 28 of 29 at home after falling 2-0 to the Oakland Athletics on Friday. They have a .236 (18-58) home winning percentage this season, the worst in majors since the 1939 St. Louis Browns (.234, 18-59).
The 16-game home losing streak is the longest in Major League Baseball since the 1996 Detroit Tigers lost 17 in a row.
“We’re not getting a lot of wins anywhere, so it’s not really a thing about playing at home or not,” interim manager Grady Sizemore said before Saturday’s game against the A’s. “I just think we’re in one of those tough stretches where things just aren’t going our way.”
Here’s a breakdown of the home struggles.
Losses 1-2: Aug. 13-14 vs. Yankees
All eyes were on Yankees slugger Aaron Judge as he aimed for his 300th career home run.
His teammate Juan Soto stole the show on Aug. 13, hitting three home runs in a 4-1 Yankees victory.
Judge did get to No. 300 the next night and Soto hit another home run as the Yankees rocked the Sox 10-2. The Sox intentionally walked Soto to face Judge before the 300th home run, a moment Sizemore would later say was “really it’s just pick your poison.”
Losses 3-6: Aug. 23-26 vs. Tigers
The Sox took a one-run lead into the seventh inning of the Aug. 26 finale of the four-game series.
It didn’t last long. Parker Meadows led off the inning with a game-tying home run against reliever Jared Shuster. The Tigers went ahead later in the inning on an RBI single by Jace Jung. A three-run home run by Spencer Torkelson off Justin Anderson put the game out of reach as the Tigers topped the Sox 6-3.
The five-run outburst summed up the series. The Tigers had at least one multirun inning in each of the four games. They had three four-run frames while defeating the Sox 13-4 on Aug. 24.
The Sox were outscored 33-13 in the series.
Losses 7-9: Aug. 27-29 vs. Texas Rangers
The series included a game suspended after four pitches and another featuring one of the top catches of the season.
The catch, by left fielder Travis Jankowski, took away what would have been a game-winning three-run home run in the ninth inning by Andrew Vaughn.
Jankowski extended his arm over the fence and made the remarkable play for the second out of the ninth in an eventual 4-3 Rangers victory on Aug. 28.
“Guy made one of the greatest catches you’ll see in a long time,” Vaughn said afterward.
That defeat was the conclusion of a long day at the park for the Sox, who lost the completion of the suspended game 3-1 earlier that afternoon.
Losses 10-12: Aug. 30-Sept. 1 vs. New York Mets
The Sox surpassed their previous franchise record for losses in a season while getting shut out 2-0 in the finale of the three-game series on Sept. 1.
Miguel Vargas singled with two outs in the fifth for the team’s first hit. Their only other hit came in the seventh, a two-out single by Gavin Sheets.
The Sox suffered loss No. 107 on the season, even though their pitchers combined for 16 strikeouts.
Losses 13-15: Sept. 9-11 vs. Cleveland Guardians
Guardians starter Joey Cantillo retired the first 20 batters in the opener of the three-game series. Andrew Benintendi ended the bid for perfection with a two-out single to right in the seventh inning.
Bryan Ramos hit a two-run homer — the first of his major-league career — an inning later against reliever Nick Sandlin, but the Sox could not complete the comeback, losing 5-3. The loss was their 13th straight at home, establishing the franchise record.
Seven Guardians pitchers combined to blank the Sox the next night 5-0, and the Sox couldn’t dig out of an early five-run hole on the way to a 6-4 loss. It marked the 23rd time the Sox have been swept in a series this season.
Loss 16: Friday vs. Oakland A’s
The Sox went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position while being shut out for a MLB-leading 18th time, dropping Friday’s series opener 2-0.
The 18 shutouts are tied for the sixth-most in a season in franchise history.
“We’re not getting the big play that we need when we need it,” Sizemore said Saturday of the stretch. “We’re in all these games, but it’s just we’re not finding a way to capitalize, whether it’s early or late or however. We’re just not getting that extra bump when we need it.”
