BOSTON — Chicago White Sox starter Garrett Crochet struck out Trevor Story swinging and Danny Jansen looking to end the first inning.
But by then, the Boston Red Sox had done plenty of damage. Five of the hosts’ first six batters collected hits against Crochet, including a two-run home run from Tyler O’Neill.
The Red Sox scored four in the first inning and held on for a 7-5 victory Saturday in front of 31,691 at Fenway Park.
“He just had a tough outing,” interim manager Grady Sizemore said. “They put some good swings on the ball. Sometimes that happens. They had a good game plan, they had good swings and made him work that first inning.”
It was the 111th loss of the season for the White Sox, extending their franchise record.
At 32-111, the White Sox are nine shy of matching the 1962 New York Mets (40-120) for the most losses in modern-day history. The White Sox have 19 games remaining and need to go 11-8 to avoid tying the mark.
The White Sox also clinched their 19th consecutive series loss.
And it was the 54th time the White Sox lost after leading. They jumped ahead with a two-run home run by Andrew Vaughn in the first.
But the Red Sox answered with some power of their own when O’Neill lined an inside cutter over the Green Monster for a two-run home run. The blast put the Red Sox ahead 3-2. Former White Sox infielder Romy Gonzalez then singled, stole second and third and scored on a Connor Wong double.
Crochet got the two strikeouts to end the first and had a scoreless second before exiting as the Sox continue to keep an eye on his workload during his first season as a starter in the majors.
“It was kind of that situation where I felt like in hindsight guys were just turning and burning,” Crochet said. “And I kept attempting to go back in there. Something I’ve been burned by before this year and wish I would have learned by now.”
Crochet allowed four runs on five hits with three strikeouts and one walk in two innings. He threw 51 pitches.
“It was a little up, I would have liked it to have been a little lower,” Crochet said of the cutter O’Neill hit for the home run. “But at the same time, I would have liked it to be like the one I threw to Wong, which he roped too. And that’s the same one I strike guys out with all the time. It’s just a matter of, that was their approach against me, to kind of get the ball in.”
O’Neill homered in the fifth against Enyel De Los Santos to put the Red Sox ahead 7-2. Andrew Benintendi hit a three-run home run in the seventh for the White Sox, but they would get no closer.
“They did a good job not giving up,” Sizemore said. “We had some opportunities where we didn’t score runs, we hit into (two) double play balls, that was frustrating. But they kept fighting, got a big three-run homer late, we were working walks.
“There were a couple plays that could have saved a run or got us an extra run. We’ve still got to play better to keep us in those games. All those runs add up.”
The Sox have lost 14 of their last 15 games.
Vaughn said the mindset for the final stretch is to “just show up every day, working hard.”
“Don’t look too far ahead,” Vaughn said. “Take that day and get the best you can every chance you get.”
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