MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Winless for almost a month, the Chicago White Sox are making the worst kind of history.

The woeful White Sox lost their 20th consecutive game Sunday, the majors’ longest skid in 36 years and one short of the American League record, as Chris Flexen was chased early in a 13-7 defeat against the Minnesota Twins.

“Running out of words for it,” Flexen said.

Royce Lewis hit a three-run homer off Flexen in a six-run second inning that gave Minnesota an 8-0 cushion. The White Sox (27-87) rallied and cut it to 10-7 in the eighth, but couldn’t get any closer.

“At the end of the day, we’ve lost 20 in a row. That’s painful. That sucks,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “We’ve just got to find a way to put that behind us and go out there and be professionals and do what we have to do tomorrow.”

Chicago’s franchise-record losing streak is the longest in the big leagues since the 1988 Baltimore Orioles dropped 21 games in a row — the AL mark — to begin the season. The NL record since 1900 is held by the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies, who lost 23 straight.

The major league low belongs to the 1889 Louisville Colonels, an American Association team that endured a 26-game slide during a 27-111 season.

Next up, the White Sox head to Oakland for a three-game series beginning Monday night against the Athletics, who are last in the AL West.

“It’s very difficult,” Chicago center fielder Luis Robert Jr. said through a translator. “There’s nothing else we can do, just try to come here every day as we’ve been doing it and try to win games.”

Chicago’s losing streak is tied with four other clubs for the third-longest since 1900: the 1969 Montreal Expos; the 1943 and 1916 Philadelphia Athletics; and the 1906 Boston Americans.

The latest defeat dropped the White Sox 60 games below .500 for the first time in franchise history. They are on pace to finish 38-124, which would be the most losses since the 1899 Cleveland Spiders of the National League went 20-134.

Chicago last won on July 10 against Minnesota, 3-1 in the first game of a doubleheader.

The White Sox have been outscored 131-48 during the losing streak. Their seven runs and 12 hits Sunday were both their most in a game during the skid.

Flexen (2-11) didn’t make it out of the second inning. The right-hander allowed eight runs — six earned — and seven hits. He also walked three batters.

Minnesota took advantage of a two-out error by second baseman Brooks Baldwin to score twice in the first. Cole Sands (5-1) pitched two scoreless innings in relief to earn the win.

“We don’t take two steps back and look at big-picture stuff, or how teams are playing. It really doesn’t change what we do,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Whether teams are playing really well, or not well, it doesn’t matter.”

Minnesota starter Simeon Woods Richardson went four innings, allowing three runs in his first start since a clunker against the Mets. He was handed an 8-0 lead before allowing two runs in the third and another in the fourth.

TRAINER’S ROOM

With the Twins leading 8-3, Manny Margot pinch-hit for Twins center fielder Byron Buxton in the bottom of the sixth after Buxton ran into the wall to make an inning-ending catch. Buxton was slow to get up after the grab but jogged off the field and appeared OK. The Twins said Buxton was removed for precautionary reasons and has been medically cleared.

UP NEXT

White Sox: Had not announced a starting pitcher for Monday’s series opener at Oakland.

Twins: RHP David Festa (1-2, 6.98 ERA) makes his fourth career start Monday when Minnesota opens a three-game series in Chicago against the Cubs.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Riots have broken out across the U.K. in recent days over false rumors spread online that an asylum seeker was responsible for a mass stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event that left three girls dead and others wounded. 

The suspect has been identified as 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, who was born in Wales to Rwandan parents.

Suspects under 18 are typically not named in the U.K., but the judge in the case ordered the suspect to be identified to stop the spread of misinformation. The teen has been charged with three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder.

In the days since the stabbing spree, rioters have torched a library, attacked a mosque and thrown flares at a statue of wartime leader Winston Churchill as agitators tap into broader concerns about the scale of immigration in the U.K.

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Hundreds of people have been arrested in connection with the disorder and many more are likely as police scour CCTV, social media and body-worn camera footage. However, police have also warned that with widespread security measures in place, with thousands of officers deployed, other crimes may not be investigated fully.

On Sunday, the violence was particularly acute in the north of England town of Rotherham where police struggled to hold back hundreds of rioters who sought to break into a Holiday Inn Express hotel being used as accommodation for asylum seekers. 

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed Sunday afternoon that the authorities will “do whatever it takes to bring these thugs to justice.”

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“I guarantee you will regret taking part in this disorder, whether directly or those whipping up this action online and then running away themselves,” he said. “This is not a protest. It is organized, violent thuggery, and it has no place on our streets or online.”

Starmer deemed anyone targeting people for the color of their skin or their faith to be “far-right.”

“People in this country have a right to be safe, and yet we’ve seen Muslim communities targeted, attacks on mosques, other minority communities singled out, Nazi salutes in the street, attacks on the police, wanton violence alongside racist rhetoric, so no, I won’t shy away from calling it what it is: far-right thuggery,” he said.

A chair is thrown at police officers during an anti-immigration protest outside the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham, England, on Aug. 4, 2024. (Danny Lawson/PA via AP)

Before bringing the riot under some sort of control, police officers with shields faced a barrage of missiles, including bits of wood, chairs and fire extinguishers. A large bin close to a window of the hotel was also set alight. The small fire was extinguished.

South Yorkshire police, which is responsible for Rotherham, said at least 10 officers have been injured, including one who was left unconscious.

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“The behavior we witnessed has been nothing short of disgusting. While it was a smaller number of those in attendance who chose to commit violence and destruction, those who simply stood on and watched remain absolutely complicit in this,” said Assistant Chief Constable Lindsey Butterfield. “We have officers working hard, reviewing the considerable online imagery and footage of those involved, and they should expect us to be at their doors very soon.”

Police officers confront protesters during an anti-immigration protest outside the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham, England, on Aug. 4, 2024. (Danny Lawson/PA via AP)

Tensions were also running high Sunday in the northeastern town of Middlesbrough, where some protesters broke free of a police guard. One group walked through a residential area, smashing the windows of houses and cars.

Hundreds of others clashed with police at the town’s cenotaph, throwing bricks, cans and pots at officers.

Many of the demonstrations over the past week were organized online by groups that mobilized support with phrases like “enough is enough,” “save our kids” and “stop the boats.”

Rallying cries have come from a diffuse group of social media accounts, but a key player in amplifying them is Tommy Robinson, leader of the English Defense League (EDL). The Merseyside police has linked the EDL to the violent protest in Southport on Tuesday, near the scene of the stabbing attack.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini won on a super tie-break against the Russian neutral team’s Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider to win gold in doubles 2-6, 6-1, 10-7.

For Errani, 37, it was a victory that takes her to the Golden Slam of her doubles career. Novak Djokovic also reached the GoldenSlam of his career today by beating Spanish player Carlos Alcaraz.

The extraordinary victory brings Italy to 21 medals, with seven golds.

“This final is crazy because of how it went: we started very badly in the first set then we were there and somehow pulled it together. It was tough but we are really happy,” Sara Errani said.

She was echoed by Jasmine Paolini: ‘It was very difficult. I came in very tense and I was struggling, then little by little the tension went away and we started to play better. It was tough but we are very happy. Truly a unique emotion”.