It could be delayed, but it couldn't be denied: The 2024 White Sox are the losingest team in modern MLB history.
After three consecutive wins to stiff-arm infamy, they finally lost their 121st game of the season, breaking the tie with the 1962 Mets for the most defeats in a season. If there's any solace, at least the fans on hand cheered for the typical reasons, as a capacity crowd at Comerica Park celebrated the clinching of the Tigers' first postseason appearance since 2014.
The game wasn't as close as the final score made it appear, at least after Garrett Crochet departed. The Tigers applied mild, steady pressure over the final 4½ innings, and while the White Sox avoided a complete collapse, it's fair to say they didn't handle it particularly well. The Tigers scored four runs while only going 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position, and that's because they received some help.
Crochet was able to strand the bases loaded after Bryan Ramos fired wide on an infield single to extend the inning (it was originally scored an error, and I'd probably have stuck with it). Grady Sizemore came out to the mound when a subsequent walk loaded the bases, but he allowed Crochet to finish the inning, which he did with a grounder to short.
Jared Shuster took over in the fifth and loaded the bases on his own accord with two walks sandwiching a single. Korey Lee let a changeup get through his wickets for one run -- it was called a wild pitch, but it should've been a passed ball -- and a sac fly by Matt Vierling made it 2-0.
Two innings later, Fraser Ellard gave up a one-out double to Andy Ibáñez that Dominic Fletcher played into a triple because he let the ball bounce under his mitt. That drastically reduced Ellard's margin for error, and errors were made. He gave up a double to Riley Greene, and then spiked a slider that shot upward and hit Lee in the forehead of his mask, bounding away for a second run-scoring wild pitch and a fourth Tigers run.
That turned out to be plenty, because while White Sox pitchers allowed 15 baserunners over eight innings, five Tigers pitchers -- with Brenan Hanifee opening and Brant Hurter providing the Bulk Boy work -- allowed just three hits and a walk. Zach DeLoach had two of them, including his first MLB homer off Hurter in the sixth that cut Detroit's lead to 2-1.
Fletcher had the only other hit, Miguel Vargas came off the bench to draw a four-pitch walk in the ninth for the lone free pass, the White Sox only had two at-bats with a runner in scoring position, and Tigers pitchers only threw 111 pitchers over nine innings. The line score says it wasn't a shutout, but spiritually, it felt like one.
Bullet points:
*Crochet allowed four hits and a walk while striking out six over his four innings, and he hit 100.4 mph, matching his highest max velocity this season. He finished his season with a 3.58 ERA and 209 strikeouts over 146 innings. He had a 99th percentile outcome, and the rest of the team had 1.
*Andrew Vaughn went 0-for-4, and his OPS dropped to .703, for those watching to see if the White Sox finish with even one average hitter for the season.
*For those wondering if Jason Benetti is capable of big calls, you be the judge:
