Nicky Lopez looped a single to left field with two outs in the third inning Tuesday at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Luis Robert Jr. followed with another single to left, and Lopez raced to third base to give the White Sox runners on the corners as they attempted to rally from down a run against the Cleveland Guardians.
That’s as close as the team came to scoring.
Andrew Benintendi hit a long fly near the left-field corner that Steven Kwan raced down for the final out of the inning.
The Sox had just three other runners in scoring position the rest of the game, losing 5-0 in front of 12,246.
It’s the 113th loss of the season for the Sox — extending a franchise record. They were shut out for the 17th time, their most since being blanked on 21 occasions in 1976. It’s the 10th time they’ve been shut out at home.
“We didn’t really swing the bats,” interim manager Grady Sizemore said. “We got a few opportunities, but didn’t get the hit when we needed to and didn’t make the adjustments.
“Just not a good day for us offensively.”
At 33-113, the Sox are seven shy of tying the 1962 New York Mets (40-120) for the most losses during a season in modern-day Major League Baseball history. They have 16 games remaining.
The Sox have lost 14 straight at home, extending a club record. And Tuesday’s defeat clinched the 20th consecutive series loss.
The Sox are 80 games under .500 for the first time in franchise history.
They fell behind in the second inning when Lane Thomas doubled and scored on a single by Kyle Manzardo. Thomas hit a three-run home run in the sixth against reliever Gus Varland, who had just entered for starter Jonathan Cannon.
“I liked that matchup, I think that’s a good matchup for Gus there, he’ll tell you, he didn’t execute the pitch he wanted to,” Sizemore said. “(The slider) just kind of backed up and Thomas has been swinging good for them.”
Cannon allowed three runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and one walk in 5 1/3 innings.
“I thought after the second inning the stuff was really good,” Cannon said. “Kind of got punched in the face a little bit in the second. Was able to get out of it with that sweet (diving) catch by (shortstop Jacob) Amaya and was able to double that guy off (at third base to end the inning).
“After that I felt like I was able to really settle in and start executing some pitches. Had to change the game plan a little bit when they came out swinging, but I thought we were able to make some good adjustments.”
Sean Burke, who was called up from Triple A on Tuesday, allowed one unearned run on three hits with three strikeouts and one walk in three innings during his big-league debut.
“This is definitely the best day of my life,” Burke said. “It’s something I’ve worked for since I picked up a baseball for the first time. It’s hard to put into words right now. Reflecting back over tomorrow and the next couple of days, I’ll settle in and it will feel more real.”
The Guardians used seven pitchers on Tuesday. Starter Ben Lively exited with a right thigh bruise after being hit with a liner back to the mound by Dominic Fletcher in the second inning.
Lively allowed one hit and the six relievers combined to surrender four more over the final seven innings.
“It’s nothing these guys haven’t gone through or haven’t seen,” Sizemore said of facing the variety of Cleveland pitching. “They got a lot of help out of their bullpen, they all threw pretty well. We had a couple of good swings here and there, we got some guys on, but just not the big hit when guys were on and weren’t able to grind at-bats and make them work at all.
“They were pretty comfortable out there, doing what they wanted to do. Just didn’t make the adjustment.”
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