SAN DIEGO — One hundred twenty down with six games to go.
That’s where the 2024 White Sox, the worst team in the history of the American League after their 4-2 loss to the Padres on Sunday, sit in the loss column with a week left in the worst season of the franchise’s storied history.
With their fifth consecutive defeat and 23rd in the last 28 games, the Sox fell to 36-120 to tie the expansion 1962 Mets’ record for most losses in the modern era and break the 2003 Tigers’ AL-record 119 losses.
“It’s very frustrating; it’s not what we want,” said Miguel Vargas, who homered off Yu Darvish. “We don’t want to be on this side of history.”
Rookie right-hander Sean Burke pitched six innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts, and Korey Lee also homered to give Burke a 2-1 lead, but the Padres (90-66) rallied for three runs against relievers Prelander Berroa and Fraser Ellard in the eighth inning.
It was the Sox’ majors-worst 36th blown save and 48th bullpen loss.
Donovan Solano doubled against Berroa, and Luis Arraez doubled against Ellard to open the eighth, tying the score at 2, and Jurickson Profar knocked in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly after a wild pitch.
Fernando Tatis Jr. homered to make it 4-2 as the Padres took a three-game lead over the Diamondbacks for the top National League wild-card berth. The Sox are 53½ games out of first place in the AL Central.
“Same as every other loss, they all suck,” left fielder Andrew Benintendi said. “How many there are doesn’t matter to us.”
After a day off Monday, the Sox play the Angels in a three-game series at Guaranteed Rate Field before finishing the season with three games next weekend at the surging Tigers, needing to win them all to avoid having the record to themselves, an impossible task for a team that hasn’t won more than four in a row.
“It’s going to put a bitter taste in all our mouths,” interim manager Grady Sizemore said. “No one wants to be at the bottom of any records or anything like that. So you use that to fuel yourself for next year, be stronger.”
As for the stain that is No. 120, Sizemore said, “It’s not something we’re focused on. Everyone outside this room is more obsessed with it than us. Put it behind us and get ready for the next series at home. We all know the situation, but we still have a job to do.”
The staggering amount of Sox losses — after a season of 101 defeats not far removed from a 93-win season in 2021 that netted an AL Central title — has been national news for weeks now.
“We’re at the point now where I’m not focused on the wins and losses,” Sizemore said. “Obviously, you want to win every day, and whether it’s 120 or 122 or 115, it’s not a number we’re happy with. At this point, it’s developing these guys, get them as many reps and situations as possible.”
The Sox have been swept 24 times. They also tied the AL record with a 21-game skid this season.
“If you ask 50 guys who are part of this [organization], we are not going to be happy about it,” Lee said. “If you are happy about it, then I don’t know what you’re doing here. It’s obviously hard, but at the same time, you gotta focus on one day at a time.”