Sept. 26—Consecutive losses by a team will set a record when the Los Angeles Angels and White Sox face off in Chicago on Thursday afternoon.
On one side is Los Angeles (63-95), which has lost two one-digit decisions early in this three-game series, tying the franchise record for most losses in a season. Between 1968 and 1980, the club lost 95 games.
On the other side is Chicago (38-120), which once again avoided entering the MLB modern record book with a 4-3 win in 10 innings on Wednesday. The White Sox are tied with the 1962 expansion New York Mets for the most losses in a major league season since 1901.
After the final game of the series on Thursday, Chicago will travel to Detroit where it will play the Tigers in three games to end the season.
Andrew Benintendi had an RBI single in the 10th inning of the White Sox’ 4-3 win on Wednesday, following his brilliant single in the eighth inning of the White Sox’ 3-2 win on Tuesday. Benintendi was bashed by his teammates for his efforts.
“It feels good to win, but it feels bad when it rains, especially when it starts to get cold,” Benintendi said. “I was trying to escape a little bit. No, it was very exciting. I mean, you want it to rain on you, even if it’s hard to run away.”
The White Sox avoided another blowout loss to a losing season, much to the delight of interim manager Grady Sizemore.
“We’re not going to let anything bother us,” Sizemore said. “We’re going to go out there, compete hard and do our best to win.”
Angels left-hander Tyler Anderson (10-14, 3.70 ERA) will look to end his five-game hitting streak when he faces White Sox right-hander Chris Frierson (2-15, 5.15) on Thursday.
In Friday’s 9-7 loss to the Houston Astros, Anderson allowed eight hits (including two homers) in 2 2/3 innings of work, hitting a season-low), gave up 6 runs (3 ERA), and went 0-3 after that.
Anderson’s stellar season declined after he was named to the All-Star Game in July.
“That’s just how baseball is sometimes,” he said Wednesday, according to the Los Angeles Daily News. “I felt like I didn’t have a good grip in the second half. Got rid of some things. I got caught up in things more than I did in the first half.”
The 34-year-old Anderson has faced the White Sox three times in his career (all starts), compiling a 0–1 record and an ERA of 8.56.
Meanwhile, Friesen lost for the 12th consecutive time on Saturday. He allowed four runs on eight hits, including two home runs, in five innings of a 6-2 loss to the San Diego Padres. His last win came on May 8 against the Tampa Bay Rays.
The 30-year-old Friesen went 3-2 with a 3.56 ERA in 10 starts (eight starts) against the Angels.
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