Cal Raleigh hit a two-run homer, Bryce Miller pitched 6 1/3 innings, and the Seattle Mariners completed a three-game sweep of the White Sox with a 6-3 win on Sunday, extending Chicago’s losing streak to 14 games.
The series in Chicago came at a good time for the Mariners, who had lost eight of their last nine games before starting this series. The Mariners outscored the White Sox 22-6 over the three games.
Miller (8-7) gave up three runs on seven hits, struck out six, and did not allow any walks. Austin Voth got two outs in the seventh inning, Yimi García pitched a scoreless eighth, and Andrés Muñoz finished the game with a scoreless ninth inning in steady rain, earning his 18th save in 21 chances.
“We needed to bounce back after a rough series at home against the Angels. Certainly the White Sox have been struggling throughout the year, but you still got to go out and do it and it’s hard to sweep people, certainly on the road,” said Mariners manager Scott Servais.
After committing two errors in the third inning, Paul DeJong hit a two-run homer in the seventh, which chased Miller from the game. The White Sox (27-81) have now lost 20 of their last 23 games and are 54 or more games under .500 for the first time since their 46-100 record in 1932. Chicago has now dropped below the 1962 Mets (29-79) for the worst record through 108 games.
Chicago became the fourth team in MLB history to lose 81 or more games in the first 108 games of a season and the first since the 1932 Red Sox (26-82).
The White Sox have been swept 16 times in 2024, including eight times at home. This is the fourth time they have been swept during their 14-game losing streak. Chicago matched its franchise-high losing streak of 14 games, also set earlier this season from May 22-June 6.
“Tough. We’re competing. We’re just not winning. There’s really nothing to be said about it. It sucks. It’s terrible. Everyone in the clubhouse, we’re all pretty let down with how we’ve been playing throughout the season. But when you have stretches like this, yeah, it sucks,” said White Sox starter Garrett Crochet.
With one out in the first inning, newly acquired left fielder Randy Arozarena got on base with an infield hit. Just two pitches later, Raleigh hit a fastball from Crochet over the left-field wall for his team-leading 22nd home run of the season, putting the Mariners ahead 2-0. This was Raleigh’s second homer in as many days.
“Cal Raleigh, wow. 10 home runs from each side of the plate. That’s really hard to do,” Servais said.
Dylan Moore led off the second inning with a ground-rule double over the center-field wall and later scored after Leo Rivas beat out a possible double play.
In the third inning, DeJong made errors on back-to-back plays at third base. Moore and Mitch Haniger both hit balls right at DeJong, and he couldn’t handle them. After a double-steal, Jorge Polanco and Moore scored on DeJong’s second error, making the score 5-0.
“It’s not fun. We’ve been in nine or 10 of these games. We’ve had an opportunity to really close five or six of them, maybe seven of them, close them out. We’ve found different ways to lose these games.
We’ve got to lock in,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “We’ve got to lock in as a group. We’ve got to lock in as a coaching staff. I’ve got to lock in as a manager and get through this thing and come out on the other side of it more than we have been.”
The Mariners adjusted their strategy against Crochet from their previous matchup in Seattle. Crochet had struck out 13 in seven innings while allowing one run against the Mariners on June 13.
“With guys like that, strikes out a lot (of batters), doesn’t walk a whole ton you’ve got to get on the fastball and you’ve got to be ready to swing pitch one. I think we did a good job of that tonight. We weren’t getting in deep counts like last time,” said Raleigh.
Raleigh also added an RBI single off White Sox reliever Chad Kuhl, making the score 6-1.
Crochet (6-8), who has been mentioned in trade rumors, wasn’t at his best. He allowed five runs, three earned, on six hits in three innings. He struck out three and walked one on 64 pitches.
