If you’ve seen the White Sox lose 114 times this season, you’ve seen them lose in every way imaginable.
In their 6-4 loss Wednesday to the Guardians that completed a three-game sweep and put them six losses away from tying the 1962 Mets’ modern-era record of 120 in a season, the Sox twice saw the Guardians score two runs on infield singles by the same player.
Lane Thomas beat out a slow roller to third baseman Miguel Vargas with two outs in the first inning, allowing Steven Kwan to score easily from third and Jose Ramirez to race in all the way from second.
When Thomas beat second baseman Lenyn Sosa’s throw to first for an infield single after Sosa’s diving stop with two outs in the third, Kwan and a hustling Andres Gimenez scored.
‘‘Yeah, those were tough,’’ said first baseman Andrew Vaughn, who threw home to try to get Gimenez. ‘‘Gotta go ball first. I’m stretching, trying to make sure it’s an out. I can’t tell, and they are already wheeled around. Jose can run. Tough plays.’’
Adding to the ‘‘what’s next?’’ element of the afternoon — and season — Gimenez was on base because Vaughn was late getting to the bag after picking up his tapper in the infield grass.
‘‘The first thing I did is I thought about second base [to get Kwan], which I shouldn’t have,’’ Vaughn said. ‘‘Turned inside, took my head off the runner. Didn’t realize I didn’t have that much time. Just a mistake on my part.’’
Vaughn pic.twitter.com/tZvl2IsfUQ
— Daryl Van Schouwen (@CST_soxvan) September 11, 2024
‘‘Maybe just tagging the guy and not going to the bag was probably the way to go,’’ interim manager Grady Sizemore said. ‘‘Five runs on balls that don’t leave the infield is something you don’t see a lot.’’
Grady Sizemore pic.twitter.com/WYNIWkOpXq
— Daryl Van Schouwen (@CST_soxvan) September 11, 2024
Fans in the small afternoon crowd let Vaughn hear it, piling on when he successfully made the same play after Ramirez grounded to first right after Gimenez’s at-bat.
They can’t be blamed. They haven’t seen the Sox win a game at home since a 12-2 victory Aug. 12 against the Yankees, a streak of 15 losses.
The Sox scored four runs (three unearned) in the third to cut the deficit to 5-4 before the Guardians added a run in the seventh against a bullpen that allowed one run in six innings.
Davis Martin fell to 0-4. The five earned runs he allowed raised his ERA to 4.14.
Not happy about it
The players are asked about the season record for losses daily and, for the most part, have taken it in stride.
‘‘We’re competitors. I don’t give a s— about our record right now,’’ Martin said. ‘‘I’m [ticked]. Everybody’s [ticked]. Score four runs for me, that’s well in the ballpark for us to get a victory. Our bullpen pitched their [butts] off, and it’s my job to set the tone, so it really [ticks] me off. That feeling isn’t gone.’’
‘‘It doesn’t matter if we’re playing Ping-Pong [or] video games on our phone, we want to beat the crap out of each other, and the same thing goes on out there,’’ Martin said. ‘‘There’s no lack of effort, no lack of competition.’’
Davis Martin pic.twitter.com/Kd92vvpfsp
— Daryl Van Schouwen (@CST_soxvan) September 11, 2024
This and that
Sox batters struck out a season-high 18 times, including nine in 4⅓ innings against left-hander Matthew Boyd.
• The Sox are 8-41 against the American League Central.
• Dominic Fletcher, who was tied for the lead among AL right fielders with 10 runs saved entering play Wednesday, threw out Gimenez at second in the seventh. Fletcher also walked and had an RBI single in the Sox’ four-run third.