Jose hits 4 in row; Sox can’t get 8 in row
Jose Abreu homered.
Again.
But the White Sox could not win again. The Sox first baseman launched a 449-foot shot beyond the last row of the left-center-field bleachers in his first at-bat Sunday against Cubs righty Yu Darvish, giving him four home runs in four consecutive at-bats after he hit three in a row Saturday night, but it was the only offense the Sox could muster on a day Darvish struck out 10 over seven innings of one-run ball to snap the Sox’ seven-game winning streak.
“I’m never satisfied with what I do,” Abreu said. “I always think I can do better, I can do more.”
One more would have been nice, but a little much to ask. Abreu was the first Sox player in history to homer in four straight plate appearances and the first to hit six homers in one series.
“I’m happy for what I did, but it’s a little bittersweet because we didn’t get the win today,” Abreu said. I would rather have the win. We battled. We did our best, and we just came up short.”
Darvish was a handful, allowing only six hits.
Those three homers in the Sox’ 7-4 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field on Saturday came a day after he hit two in the series opener Friday, a 10-1 Sox win.
Abreu grounded out sharply to second base — exit velocity 112 mph — in the fourth inning to end the streak at four. He also popped out and worked a good walk against Craig Kimbrel in the eighth.
The last major-league player to hit four homers in a row was J.D. Martinez on Sept. 4, 2017, in the same game against the Dodgers.
“It’s special to watch because when you see a hitter locked in, there is nothing like it,” manager Rick Renteria said.
Sox power
Abreu’s fourth homer was added to a growing list of Sox long-ball feats in only 28 games. Yoan Moncada, Yasmani Grandal, Abreu and Eloy Jimenez hit four in a row against the Cardinals last Sunday, and as a team, they hit six homers Monday against the Tigers, led by two each from Tim Anderson and Luis Robert, and hit six against the Cubs on Friday, led by Abreu’s pair and Jimenez’s 466-footer.
The Sox and Padres are tied for the homerun lead with 55.
Great, not so great
Rookie right-hander Matt Foster extended his scoreless-innings streak to begin his career to 13⅓, the longest by a Sox pitcher to begin his career since 1974.
Veteran lefty Ross Detwiler continues to flourish in a relief role, extending his scoreless streak to 12⅓ innings over his first nine games.
Rookie center fielder Robert was 0-for-4 with four strikeouts for the second time, striking out three times against Darvish.
Robert has struck out 39 times in 107 plate appearances.
Don Cooper, dancing machine
The tweeted postgame dancefests featuring catcher Zack Collins and infielder Danny Mendick included a special guest after the Sox’ win Saturday — pitching coach Don Cooper.
To the sound of Chuck Berry, Cooper busted a move or two, including an iconic take from “Pulp Fiction.”
“Last night was a special one, getting Coop in there,” Collins said.
“He told us after we got [coach Daryl Boston] on that he’s going to join one day, and I guess last night he was feeling frisky. So he wanted to join, and he picked the song.”