Garrett Crochet used a combination of fastballs and cutters to strike out Francisco Lindor to begin Sunday’s game against the New York Mets.
The Chicago White Sox starter broke out the changeup for strike three on the next batter, Jose Iglesias.
Crochet displayed his sweeper to end the inning with another strikeout, fanning Mark Vientos.
Crochet struck out the first seven hitters Sunday, tying a franchise and American League record for the most consecutive strikeouts to begin a game.
But even that couldn’t prevent the Sox from setting the franchise record for losses in a season.
The Sox lost their 107th game of the year, falling 2-0 to the Mets in front of 16,887 at Guaranteed Rate Field.
“When we’re not scoring runs, it doesn’t matter how many we strike out,” interim manager Grady Sizemore said.
The Sox dropped their 10th straight game on the way to eclipsing the previous franchise record of 106 losses in a season set by the 1970 club.
It’s their third losing streak of 10-plus games this season, joining the 1961 Washington Senators, 1962 Mets and 1965 Mets as the only major-league clubs since 1961 to suffer such a fate, according to MLB Network game day notes.
“There’s not really a perspective to put into it at this point,” Crochet said of the slide. “It sucks to say that we’ve been here before and we’ve dug ourselves out of it with a win. We just continue to come to the field every day fighting and playing a good brand of baseball.”
The Sox need to go 12-12 in their final 24 games to avoid tying the ’62 Mets (40-120) for the most losses in modern-day Major League Baseball history.
They have lost 40 of their last 44, becoming just the second team in the modern era to have a stretch of 40 losses over a 44-game span in a single season along with the 1916 Philadelphia A’s (who lost 41 of 44), according to MLB Network game day notes.
The Sox went 0-10 during a homestand for the first time in franchise history. Their previous record occurred earlier this season, a 0-7 homestand May 23-29.
“I don’t think there’s really anything you can learn,” Crochet said of the skid. “I think it’s more just having the same mindset you have when you’re on a winning streak. You’ve got to just keep playing good baseball.”
The Sox (31-107) are 76 games under .500 for the first time in franchise history.
Before the game, Sizemore said the focus isn’t on the record.
“There’s no sense in harping over the record right now,” Sizemore said. “Our job right now is to try to get a win today. And we’re trying to just improve upon every day and get better as each series goes on. My message has been the same since I got here, and it’s not about the record, it’s not about wins, it’s just about competing and playing together as a team.”
The Sox got the pitching and defense on Sunday but were limited to two hits while being shut out for the 15th time this season.
The first hit didn’t come until a two-out single to left by Miguel Vargas in the fifth inning. The other hit came in the eighth, a two-out single by Gavin Sheets.
“Offensively, we just struggled,” Sizemore said. “Just couldn’t get any runs on the board. A couple of good at-bats, but just not enough to really put any pressure on them and make them uncomfortable. The bullpen was great today, the starting’s been great, it’s just been a tough series offensively for us.”
Mets starter Sean Manaea allowed two hits, struck out five, walked two and hit one batter in seven scoreless innings.
Crochet allowed one run on three hits with eight strikeouts and no walks in 3 1/3 innings. The run came in the fourth, a leadoff home run by Lindor.
The seven consecutive strikeouts to start the game matched Carlos Rodón (on Sept. 30, 2016, with the Sox vs. Minnesota), Joe Cowley (May 28, 1986, with the Sox at Texas) and Blake Snell (June 3, 2018, with Tampa Bay at Seattle) for the AL mark.
“It was cool. Sadly, I kind of wasted a lot of pitches in that time,” said Crochet, whose workload is being monitored in his first season as a starter. “So, it kind of ate into my pitch count a little earlier than I would have liked. Hopefully, as the outings go on, I can get a little closer to the fifth inning to help the bullpen out.
“I felt really good with my stuff today. The cutter I felt like I was really able to just throw as hard as I could and it was going where I wanted it up until the Lindor one. Besides that, I was really happy with today.”
Sox pitchers combined for 16 strikeouts, but they still couldn’t avoid being swept for the 22nd time this season — or their place in team history.
Season-ending surgery set for Drew Thorpe
Starter Drew Thorpe is scheduled to undergo season-ending surgery involving a bone spur in his right elbow on Sept. 7.
“We’re just going to shave it down, we’re not going to remove it,” Thorpe said. “When I got the first imaging done it showed up in there. So that was kind of an underlying thing. Other than that, pretty good news. UCL looks really clean, flexor stuff went away. So that was kind of the underlying cause.”
Thorpe, one of the players acquired from San Diego in March for pitcher Dylan Cease, went 3-3 with a 5.48 ERA, 25 strikeouts and 21 walks in nine starts. He went on the injured list on Aug. 1 with a right flexor strain.
The right-hander is expected to be without restrictions for the start of spring training.
