The only problem with referring to the White Sox's losing streak in the past tense is that four games will take place before Jonathan Cannon makes his next start. The Sox were able to end their 21-game drought before they challenged the Phillies' all-time mark behind Cannon on Tuesday night, but there's no reason why they can't lose another dozen in a row starting this afternoon, and the rubberneckers who left the scene will return to gawk at a team that's dropped 33 of 34, or something nearly as grotesque.
We can close the chapter, however, if not the book, and take inventory of what we just witnessed for posterity, so here's my attempt to rank the White Sox's 21 consecutive losses from least significant to most brutal. This is an exercise similar to what Vulture does when ranking all the songs from a recording artist's catalog, except instead of Led Zeppelin or Billy Joel, we're ranking Staind, or the guy who sang "Dominick the Donkey."
Ordinary White Sox losses in no ordinary setting
No. 21: Royals 6, White Sox 1 on July 20
Jonathan Cannon got roughed up early before settling in for six innings that at least offered length, but the White Sox couldn't do the same to Brady Singer.
No. 20: Rangers 2, White Sox 1 on July 25
Cannon provided six better innings, but still took the loss because the White Sox couldn't figure out a version of Max Scherzer who went back on the injured list after one more start, an unsuccessful outing against the Cardinals.
No: 19: Royals 4, White Sox 1 on July 21
Drew Thorpe's six scoreless innings were wasted, but nobody could expect the White Sox to hold a 1-0 lead all the way through. Justin Anderson lost the lead by BABIP, and John Brebbia continued hurting his trade value in a three-run eighth. Seth Lugo only needed 103 pitches to throw his first-ever complete game.
No. 18: Mariners 6, White Sox 3 on July 27
Erick Fedde's tightrope act wore out in the fourth inning, as he gave up three runs and a 2-0 lead in his final start as a White Sox.
Garrett Crochet in reduced amounts
No. 17: Twins 6, White Sox 2 on Aug. 3
No. 16: Rangers 3, White Sox 2 on July 23
No. 15: Mariners 6, White Sox 3 on July 28
No. 14: Pirates 4, White Sox 1 on July 12
These are all mild variations on the same thing: Garrett Crochet is only throwing four innings at most as the White Sox seek to guide him through a full six-month season while managing an innings total that's well past unprecedented, at least in Crochet's history. I can name at least five pitchers who have thrown 119 innings or more in a season, but I'm a little bit of a baseball history dork.
The first two fit in the first group of humdrum games, but the latter two featured some laughable White Sox defense -- a pair of Paul DeJong errors in the Seattle game, and errors all around the infield against Pittsburgh.
Chris Flexen starts
No. 13: Royals 7, White Sox 1 on JUly 19
No. 12: Pirates 6, White Sox 2 on July 13
No. 11: Rangers 10, White Sox 2 on July 24
Among the pointlessly cruel subplots of the losing streak was Chris Flexen's inability to strike an association with a winning effort. Flexen has a 5.53 ERA, but it's one of those noble 5.53 ERAs where he's mostly penalized for pitching too deep into a game. Generally speaking, he helps cross days off a calendar, and you could do worse for a fifth starter.
But the White Sox could not fare worse when Flexen pitches. They've lost his last 16 starts, and these are three of them. The Rangers start takes the cake because the Sox gave up six runs in the eighth inning, which proved how regularly the bullpen just ran out of gas.
Extra Kicks
No. 10: Athletics 5, White Sox 1 on Aug. 5
This game tied the American League record for consecutive losses, which is why it stands out from the first group of otherwise unremarkable defeats.
No. 9: Twins 13, White Sox 7 on Aug. 4
This game stands out from the standard-issue Flexen loss because the White Sox offense scored seven runs for the first time in a month, and it didn't come close to mattering.
No. 8: Twins 3, White Sox 2 on July 10
Michael Soroka fell to 0-10 on the season after giving up a bloop double to Byron Buxton and a bloop single to Ryan Jeffers. If everybody watching knew that this would be the loss that started it all, they would've never stopped celebrating Michael Kopech's game-ending immaculate inning earlier in the day.
No. 7: Pirates 9, White Sox 4 on July 14
Soroka exited this game with a sore shoulder after two batters, throwing a bullpen game into utter disarray. The White Sox fell to 1-21 in games Soroka pitched, and Luis Robert Jr. reached base five times and stole a base without scoring a run or driving one in.
Wheels Flying Off
No. 6: Mariners 10, White Sox 0 on July 26
Drew Thorpe's streak of five conscutive quality starts doesn't survive the first inning, as he gives up back-to-back-to-back homers that put the Mariners up 8-0 after one.
You get a home run! You get a home run! You get a home run! pic.twitter.com/hVm2wxSNxU
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) July 27, 2024
No. 5: Twins 10, White Sox 2 on Aug. 2
A 4-2 game explodes into a 10-2 laugher in another disastrous inning featuring a John Schriffen rookie mistake and Steven Wilson storming off the mound when Pedro Grifol asked for the ball.
Steven Wilson didn't wait for a reassuring word from Grifol. pic.twitter.com/nulu6yf1Kk
— Jim Margalus (@SoxMachine) August 3, 2024
No. 4: Royals 10, White Sox 3 on JUly 31
Drew Thorpe pitched in five innings and gave up runs in four of them, and any silver lining from the improvement over the Seattle disaster disappeared when he was placed on the IL with a flexor strain soon after. Three different White Sox defenders had catches rattle in and out of their gloves, Sammy Peralta gave up four runs in one-third of a ninth inning, and the Royals ended up winning 12 of 13 in the season series.
The Blown Saves
No. 3: Royals 4, White Sox 3 on July 30
In the first game after the trade deadline, the White Sox merely showed that they subtracted by subtraction. Fraser Ellard made his MLB debut with a one-run lead in the eighth inning and his rookie nerves led to a 28th blown save while the White Sox remained stuck on 27 wins.
No. 2: Rangers 4, White Sox 3 on July 22
Had Brebbia been able to preserve a one-run lead in the bottom of the ninth inning after Paul DeJong hit a go-ahead homer in the top of the inning, we would've only been talking about a seven-game skid. Instead, Brebbia gave up a seeing-eye single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, the White Sox did nothing with the Zombie Runner in the 10th, teeing up a Texas walk-off winner in extras.
No. 1: Royals 8, White Sox 5 on July 29
If it's any comfort to Ellard, his ineffective outing compared to the bullpen collapse the day before. The White Sox built a 5-2 lead by scoring in the fifth, sixth and seventh, only to watch Wilson give up two homers over two outs in the eighth. Brebbia took over and plunked Adam Frazier to load the bases for Bobby Witt Jr., who unloaded the bases on the first pitch.
