There have been more failed attempts by the White Sox to gain just a little traction, win a needed game to keep their fleeting good moments going, and make a statement of some kind so the rest of the weak American League Central knows they still exist.
Add Wednesday’s 12-5 loss to Shoehei Ohtani, Mike Trout and the Los Angeles Angels to the disheartening cases in point.
With right-hander Lance Lynn, the team’s highest paid starting pitcher and leader in the clubhouse taking the mound, a lineup at full strength behind him and Liam Hendriks available in the bullpen, the Sox were seemingly in good hands going into an important rubber game of a series. But Ohtani hit two tape-measure homers and Trout went deep, too, providing the guts of an eight-run onslaught against Lynn, who lasted four innings while allowing eight hits and two walks.
Taylor Ward also homered against Jesse Scholtens and Chad Wallach homered against Garrett Crochet, giving the Angels five for the day.
The deflating, emphatic result dropped the Sox to 23-35 with their second series loss in a row. They go into a weekend series against a Tigers team that took three of four from them in Detroit last weekend.
Before Detroit, the Sox had won 9-of-12. Their loss Wednesday was their fifth in six games.
The night before, the Sox won 7-3 in one of their more complete games of the season.
“It certainly was,” manager Pedro Grifol said before the game. “The bullpen was excellent, the base running was really good, we hit with runners in scoring position. I just don’t think we’ve clicked as a team yet. I don’t think we’ve come close to clicking as a team. If we can do this thing like we did last night for a long period of time, we’ll be in pretty good shape.”
Even short periods time have been hard to come by for a team that hasn’t won more than three games in a row.
“We haven’t clicked yet as a team and why that is, I’m not sure,” Grifol said. “But we’re working every single day to figure it out and when we do, hopefully we’ll go on a nice little stretch.”
Ohtani’s homers against Lynn traveled 459 and 425 fee. Trout’s in the first went 461 feet.
Jake Burger hit one for the Sox in the ninth inning, his 11th, after he subbed in at second base in the eighth inning.