Through four innings, Chris Flexen had allowed two runs, but in a dignified fashion. Bobby Witt Jr. lashed a solo shot to left field in the first, then bounced an RBI single through the middle in the third. Luis Robert Jr. made a couple of pilgrimages to Kauffman Stadium's generous gaps to prevent a pair of doubles and spare Flexen's line, but you can't fault a White Sox pitcher for using his defense when there's been so little of it this season.
The fifth inning is when Flexen and the Sox lost all dignity. He opened by walking the eighth and ninth hitters, after which Adam Frazier did him the benefit of bunting the runners over, setting up an intentional walk to Witt. That set up a potential inning-ending double play, but Vinnie Pasquantino's sac fly could've been a damage-minimizing consolation prize.
Instead, Flexen fell behind Salvador Perez before issuing a second intentional walk of the inning, and then he plunked Hunter Renfroe on the hand to bring in a run. Michael Massey then knocked Flexen from the game with a two-run single, and Freddy Fermin greeted Chad Kuhl with an RBI single to make it a 7-0 game, and cementing the White Sox's fifth loss in a row.
Instead, the solace is that the White Sox wouldn't have won even if the fifth inning never happened, for Korey Lee's eighth-inning solo shot off Chris Stratton turned out to be their only run scored.
The Sox had chances earlier against Michael Wacha, but he backfilled first base with a one-out walk of Robert after Tommy Pham's leadoff double, and Andrew Vaughn grounded into an inning-ending double play with runners on the corners. In the third, Andrew Benintendi did the same thing after Brooks Baldwin singled and moved to third on Pham's single.
Baldwin's first career hit turned out to be the game's best highlight. He went 1-for-3 in his big-league debut, grounding out and striking out in his other two plate appearances. He didn't get a fourth trip.
Bullet points:
*Nick Senzel also made his White Sox debut in the sixth spot, going 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
*Kuhl got off to a rocky start, but he ended up settling in and finishing the final three innings, so Pedro Grifol didn't have to go to the bullpen despite Flexen's short start.
*The White Sox's record is Carlton Fisk's number transition from Boston to Chicago.
