The White Sox refuse to give in to the record nobody wants.
Fueled by a season-high seven-run inning and 6 1/3 innings of pitching from beleaguered right-hander Chris Flexen, the Sox (39-120) defeated the Angels 7-0 on Thursday, remaining tied with the 1962 New York Mets for the most losses in one season. They’ll need to sweep the playoff-hunting Tigers this weekend to avoid owning the record by themselves, an improbable task. But off they go to Motown looking to play spoiler.
And to avoid history for at least another day.
“Even at the end of the year, in a tough season, they’re showing they still care and they’re still fighting,’’ interim manager Grady Sizemore said. “They’re not laying down. They’re going to give it everything they have and I expect nothing less … in the next three games in Detroit.”
The struggling Angels (63-96) were just what the Sox needed to get on a small but welcome late season roll, and opportunity was seized. Flexen (3-15) hadn’t won in 23 starts, in part the perils of pitching for a bad team. But he and the Sox together were good for a change Thursday, and with seven strikeouts, one walk and five hits allowed Flexen (4.96) enjoyed the small reward of whittling his ERA below 5.00.
Andrew Vaughn’s two-run single and Lenyn Sosa’s two-run double against All-Star lefty Tyler Anderson highlighted a seven-run fifth, the Sox’ biggest inning of the season. Sosa is batting .391 in his last 18 games.
The sweep marked the second of the season for the Sox, who have been swept 24 times.
While many among the home crowds in the first two games of the series oddly cheered for the Angels and at times booed the Sox, hoping to see history, Wednesday afternoon’s paid gathering of 15,679 was solely supportive of the Sox, with multiple ovations including one for Flexen when Sizemore pulled him during the seventh inning.
While not speaking out against the fans, the players, while understanding where the boos stemmed from, didn’t approve.
“I don’t love it,” All-Star left-hander Garrett Crochet said. “That’s all I’m going to say.”
“I try not to make it about that,” Sizemore said. “I want to keep the message positive and not let external factors dictate how we go about our business or what we think. I definitely think, those guys are fighters and they don’t want to see their home crowd upset or rooting against them. And it’s hard not to take it personal, but they’ve been pros. They’re not pointing fingers or getting upset but yeah there’s a lot of fight in them and they take pride when they go out there.
“It’s not going unnoticed but they’re not letting it distract them from what they have to do every day. Even at the end of the year, in a tough season, they’re showing they still care and they’re still fighting.”