ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER ‘L’ FOR THE SOX
Losing streak hits five, record falls to 7-16 with loss to Jays
TORONTO — It’s times such as these that will show what you’re made of.
At 7-16, with a five-game losing streak and 10 losses in their last 12 games after a 5-2 loss Monday to the Blue Jays, the White Sox are looking for that chip that sat on their collective shoulder during spring training — the one that players talked about after a disappointing 2022 season and that general manager Rick Hahn liked to discuss, too.
It was something to rally around.
But now the Sox simply are trying to avoid getting chipped to pieces game by game before the first of May.
For what it’s worth, the players are holding fast to the culture first-year manager Pedro Grifol set out to create during spring training. There is plenty of blame to go around — pitching, hitting and defense — but no one is pointing fingers. Not yet, anyway.
‘‘Stay together,’’ veteran infielder Elvis Andrus said. ‘‘Adversity, that’s when you get closer. That’s what defines what type of team you are going to be this year. Everybody seems relaxed, which I love. Nobody is panicking yet.
‘‘You have to have a short memory, man.’’ The Sox will have to forget another poor start from veteran right-hander Lance Lynn, who gave up four runs after two outs in the fourth inning after being staked to a 2-0 lead, as well as a three-hit effort from the lineup. They had no hits after the fifth.
After the Sox were swept by the 20-3 Rays during the weekend, the Jays (14-9) dropped them to 0-4 on a rugged American League East road trip that can’t end soon enough.
‘‘We’re playing teams that are really hot, and we’re still competing,’’ Andrus said. ‘‘I feel like we’re close. This part of the season, one positive week and we’re back in the race. Learn what’s not working, make adjustments and stay positive.’’
The Sox are lucky to be in the AL Central, where the first-place Twins are 13-10. The defending champion Guardians are 11-12.
Grifol, who is facing a tough challenge in his first month as a manager, maintains his team will play better. How? Let him count the ways, but pitchers need to attack the strike zone more and hitters need to stop chasing bad pitches. Grifol harped on the latter before the game Monday.
‘‘We can’t chase at the rate that we’re chasing,’’ Grifol said.
Leadoff man Luis Robert Jr., who has four hits in his last 44 at-bats, struck out three times, once on a 3-2 slider well out of the strike zone against Jays starter Chris Bassitt, who left in the seventh because of back tightness.
‘‘We’ve got to get guys on,’’ Grifol said. ‘‘We’ve got to take our walks when they’re available. We can’t chase out of the zone.’’
With two outs in the third, Robert walked and Andrew Benintendi singled before Andrew Vaughn ripped a double to the wall in left-center to give Lynn a 2-0 lead.
But after getting the first two outs of the fourth — the second on a leaping catch by Robert at the center-field wall — Lynn walked Alejandro Kirk, then allowed four consecutive hits, including a three-run home run to Cavan Biggio.
‘‘Two-out walk, pretty much it,’’ Lynn said afterward. ‘‘Gave up four because of it. They’ll haunt you; they’ll haunt you bad. Tonight it happened.’’
Lynn (0-3, 7.52 ERA) remained winless in five starts this season.
‘‘Everybody’s doing everything they can day in and day out to try to get better,’’ Lynn said.
‘‘We have to get through it,’’ Vaughn said. ‘‘Baseball is tough. There are going to be streaks where not everything is clicking. We’re going through that now.’’