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By Jon Paul Hoornstra
Contributing Sports Writer
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The Chicago White Sox etched their name in the history books Monday by matching a record for futility they would have preferred to avoid.
Tuesday, they ended an ugly losing streak by beating the Oakland A's, 5-1. Their 21 consecutive losses tied the 1988 Baltimore Orioles for the longest in AL history.
Starting pitcher Jonathan Cannon (2-5) limited the A's to one six hits and one run over six innings, supported by a two-run home run by Andrew Benintendi in the top of the fourth inning at the Oakland Coliseum.
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The White Sox tacked on two runs in the sixth inning against A's starter Ross Stripling (2-11) to pull away. It was the White Sox's first win since July 10, the first game of a doubleheader against the Minnesota Twins.
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Since then, six White Sox regulars — pitchers Erick Fedde, Michael Kopech, and Tanner Banks, outfielders Eloy Jimenez and Tommy Pham, and shortstop Paul DeJong — were traded to contending teams ahead of the July 30 deadline.
More recently, former White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen used his platform on the team's regional sports network to remind viewers that the team's current manager, Pedro Grifol, was hired over him prior to the 2023 season.
"I gotta go to psychologist tomorrow," Guillen said Sunday when Chicago lost its 20th consecutive game. "A few years ago, I was happy, man. Now, I'm bitter and weird ... Because I don't think I was a bad manager, but they picked Pedro in front of me."
It's far from certain Grifol will survive the season, even if he survived a meeting with owner Jerry Reinsdorf and general manager Chris Getz last week.
"Any time you win, it's great," Grifol told reporters after the game. "Any time you win when you lose 21 in a row, it's even better. I'm proud of these guys. They care. They care for each other."
Chicago still has a shot at the 1962 New York Mets' single-season record of 120 losses. They're on pace to lose 123 after Tuesday's win.
The regular season offers a bit less than eight weeks for the White Sox to avoid erasing the Mets' name atop the list of baseball's biggest losers and slide comfortably into the dustbin of history.
To do that, they'll need a few more games like Tuesday's. Unfortunately, they only have one more against the A's, the American League's second-worst team at 47-68.
"It's just a sigh of relief," Cannon said. "We're all major league players. We have a lot of confidence in ourselves to go out and do our jobs every night. ... It's bittersweet. It's nice that it's over, but it sucks that we've gotten to that point."
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