PHILADELPHIA — The Chicago White Sox haven’t had much hitting in 2024.
Friday, they had none for more than six innings against Philadelphia Phillies starter Spencer Turnbull.
The right-hander took a no-hitter into the seventh. Right fielder Gavin Sheets ended his pursuit for history with a sharp single to right with one out in the inning.
The Phillies settled for a combined two-hitter, beating the Sox 7-0 in front of 39,069 at Citizens Bank Park.
Turnbull allowed one hit while walking two and striking out six in seven innings.
“He was using multiple pitches and locating all of them,” Sheets said. “His curveball was sharp, he was breaking the cutter in on the hands and running that two-seam changeup away. All of his stuff was working tonight.”
It was another rough night for the Sox offense. They entered Friday last in the majors in several categories, including runs (38), home runs (10), on-base percentage (.269), slugging (.302) and OPS (.571). They were 29th in the majors with a .196 average.
Friday marked the seventh time they’ve been shut out this season. And at 3-16, they are off to their worst 19-game start in franchise history.
“Got to execute,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “Got to execute the game plan. Every night you’re going to face somebody like that. Especially when you’re facing postseason clubs. It’s not going to get easier tomorrow. It’s not going to get easier Sunday. We have to find a way to put good (at-bats) together, execute and step on home plate.”
They only had one baserunner through six innings, a two-out walk by Paul DeJong in the second.
The Sox didn’t hit many balls particularly hard early — with the exception of Andrew Benintendi’s flyout to center in the second with an exit velocity of 99.4 mph.
“He had movement, the ball was moving all over the place and he’s got pretty good stuff,” Grifol said. “But at the same time we have to find ways to make something happen. I’m not taking anything away from him, he did a good job of pitching.
“But every day in this league there is somebody out there that is pretty good.”
The Phillies found their offense via three home runs.
Alec Bohm led the way with two pair of three-run home runs against Sox starter Garrett Crochet in the first and third innings.
Whit Merrifield hit a solo homer run in the fourth, Crochet’s last batter. The left-hander allowed seven runs on five hits with three strikeouts and two walks in three-plus innings.
“I’ve got to avoid the crooked numbers,” Crochet said. “Solos don’t tend to beat you, but the multiple-homers do. But I kind of chalk up the entire day as not controlling the count, similar to last week. Falling behind early and kind of fighting for everything.
“I didn’t feel like any of my mistakes got punished, but it’s the fact they were making me throw more pitches than I needed to. It was only a matter of time at that point.”
Turnbull went to work with the big lead. He began the seventh by getting Eloy Jiménez to ground out to second baseman Edmundo Sosa. Sheets then connected on a first-pitch fastball for the team’s first hit.
“Wanted to be aggressive because you don’t want to fall behind on a night he has his A game,” Sheets said.
Nicky Lopez had the other hit for the Sox, an infield single against reliever Matt Strahm in the eighth. The Sox had two on and one out in both the seventh and eighth but came up empty. They were retired in order in the ninth, completing another scoreless night.
“You’ve just got to trust each other,” Sheets said. “You’ve got to trust the guy behind you, feed off each other. We’re going through it right now as a team. Everybody’s got to trust each other.
“One guy can’t lead the whole thing. Can’t put too much pressure on yourself individually. And just continue to put the work in and trust your teammates.”
