White Sox watch: A rare walk-off win puts the brakes on history for now

The 1962 New York Mets lost 120 games, setting the record for the most defeats in a single season in modern baseball history. The 2024 Chicago White Sox are on pace to supplant the Mets as the worst team ever. As the season winds down, we’ll track their efforts to avoid infamy.

Chicago’s seemingly inevitable march toward the all-time loss record took a break on Saturday. Instead, it was a hit parade on the Southside, with the 16th and final knock coming on an Andrew Benintendi walk-off homer in a 7-6 victory.

Chicago’s bullpen blew two separate three-run leads, including one in the ninth inning. But the offense made their struggles moot. It was their first home win since Aug. 12.

This beleaguered bunch will still need to win nine of its final 13 games to avoid equaling the 1962 Mets’ 120-loss mark. And eight wins to avoid setting the record itself.

Another game against the Athletics, and six chances against lowly Angels present an opening for the White Sox to make a last-minute miracle push to avoid infamy. Don’t forget, the 2003 Detroit Tigers won five of six to end their season and finish with only 119 losses. Perhaps the record books provide the most motivation.

The White Sox won their second consecutive game that Chris Flexen pitched. That’s significant mostly because they’d lost his previous 20 games started. He navigated through traffic over five scoreless innings.

Chicago posted seven singles in the first two innings off Oakland starter J.T. Ginn. Gavin Sheets added a solo home run.

It looked like this game would follow a familiar pattern. The A’s immediately scored three off reliever Chad Kuhl. But Enyel De Los Santos stabilized the effort, throwing 2 1/3 scoreless innings. Justin Anderson blew another three-run lead in the ninth.

But Benintendi was clutch all day. He posted two tie-breaking hits, including the game-winner.

In any down season, a losing team at least hopes it sees growth in certain areas. When you’re 81 games below .500, however, sustained growth is inherently elusive.

Saturday might not have represented growth. But at least their home fans got to celebrate a win, finally. — Sam Blum

Current pace: 125 losses

Games remaining: 13

Wins needed to avoid equaling the ’62 Mets: 9

Next game: Sunday vs. Oakland. LHP JP Sears 11-10, 4.18 ERA (A’s) vs. RHP Sean Burke 0-0, 0.00 ERA (White Sox)

Sept. 13: Shutout loss puts Chicago within six losses of MLB record

The roles were supposed to be reversed. If you asked any casual baseball fan at the beginning of the year which team would enter this mid-September series — Oakland A’s versus Chicago White Sox — looking to avoid the loss record, the answer would have been Oakland.

Preseason expectations weren’t high for the White Sox, to be sure. Just ask their GM. But it was Oakland coming off a 110-loss season, amid a chaotic off-field storm.

Instead, it’s Oakland building an exciting young core. And the White Sox are counting down the days until the season ends. Their relevance is tied directly to their futility. A 33-115 record leaves their club six losses shy of solo ownership of the record.

This 2-0 defeat wasn’t a blowout. Zack Gelof doubled home a run in the fourth. Brent Rooker gave the A’s some insurance an inning later with a two-out single. Chicago’s pitching held up, but its offense couldn’t scratch out a run.

Out of context, it was just a regular game — unlike many mammoth blowouts that populate their schedule.

In context, however, it added to their unwelcome history.

The White Sox lost their 16th consecutive home game, spanning more than a month. They dropped to 5-26 in the Grady Sizemore era. They tied the 2018 Baltimore Orioles and the 1935 Boston Braves for the fourth-most losses since the creation of the American League in 1901.

In an alternate universe, it’s the A’s desperately trying to avoid infamy. In this world, however, it’s the White Sox who are seemingly resigned to it. — Sam Blum

Current pace: 126 losses

Games remaining: 14

Wins needed to avoid equaling the ’62 Mets: 10

Next game: Saturday vs. Oakland. Athletics RHP J.T. Ginn (0-1, 4.58 ERA) vs. White Sox RHP Chris Flexen (2-14, 5.26 ERA)

Sept. 11: Rally falls short in 15th consecutive home loss

The White Sox have gone an entire month without a home win.

Way back when, somewhere around the Mesozoic Era (OK, it was Aug. 12), Chicago bludgeoned the New York Yankees, 12-2. Since then, it’s been one loss after another, one step closer to history every time the White Sox take the field. The latest edition included a pair of two-run infield singles by Guardians outfielder Lane Thomas in a 6-4 defeat on Wednesday afternoon that sealed Cleveland’s three-game sweep.

An error and a balk helped fuel a four-run White Sox outburst, but like the previous two games of the series, they never grabbed hold of a lead. They have lost 15 consecutive games at Guaranteed Rate Field, and 27 of 28.

The White Sox now sit at 33-114. Since their inception as a charter member of the American League in 1901, only five teams have recorded more losses in a season: the 2018 Baltimore Orioles (115), the 1935 Boston Braves (115), the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics (117), the 2003 Detroit Tigers (119) and the 1962 New York Mets (120).

With the first-place Guardians reluctantly leaving town, the White Sox will welcome the Oakland Athletics to the South Side for a three-game series this weekend. Chicago dropped two of three in Oakland in early August. — Zack Meisel

Sept. 10: Loss No. 113 comes in 17th shutout of season

CHICAGO — Before Tuesday’s game, a White Sox executive jokingly asked two reporters to try using “record-setting” before the team name instead of a less-flattering description. Well, the record-setting White Sox did it again Tuesday, setting a new record for consecutive home losses with 14. Of course, they broke the record they set Monday night.

Their 5-0 loss to Cleveland was also their 26th defeat in their last 27 home games.

It’s starting to become a trend.

Led by Lane Thomas’ three-run homer off Sox reliever Gus Varland in the sixth, Cleveland sent the White Sox to their 113th loss, home or away, of the season. This was the 17th time this season they’ve been shut out. They are eight losses away from surpassing the modern-day loss record of the 1962 Mets, and the only drama now is whether they can win three games between now and Sept. 24 so they can set the record in their final home series.

The Sox are 18-56 at home and their last victory at Guaranteed Rate Field was an improbable 12-2 clobbering of the New York Yankees on Aug. 12. Their previous home victory was against the Twins in the first game of a doubleheader on July 10. The Sox responded with 21 straight losses, tying the American League record.

Before the game, the Sox called up right-hander Sean Burke, who made his major-league debut. He struck out three in two scoreless innings before the Guardians got an unearned run off him in the ninth. The error was his own, coming off an off-target pickoff throw.

Burke, a third-round draft pick in 2021, was supposed to pitch in the Arizona Fall League, but instead is the 62nd player the White Sox have used this season, extending a club record. — Jon Greenberg

Sept. 9: Loss No. 112 comes as Guardians pitcher flirts with perfection

CHICAGO — The White Sox, who have scored 104 fewer runs than any other team, have proven to be an elixir for any struggling pitcher. That now includes Cleveland Guardians rookie Joey Cantillo, who retired the first 20 Chicago hitters he faced Monday and dealt the White Sox their 112th defeat.

Cantillo registered an 8.47 ERA in his first four spot starts, but in Cleveland’s 5-3 victory, he struck out 10 and kept the White Sox off the bases until Andrew Benintendi’s two-out single to right in the seventh.

Strangely, the White Sox have notched more wins against the first-place Guardians (five) than against any other opponent this season. Their loss Monday, however, marked their 13th in a row at home and 25th in their last 26 games at Guaranteed Rate Field. They sit only eight losses from tying the 1962 Mets’ dubious mark. They sit 40 1/2 games out of fourth place in the five-team American League Central. — Zack Meisel

(Top photo of Andrew Benintendi: Nuccio DiNuzzo / Getty Images)