Crochet K's 7 straight to start game and tie AL, White Sox record

CHICAGO -- Garrett Crochet made White Sox history during a 2-0 loss to the Mets Sunday afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field. His team did the same, but we’ll open with Crochet’s positive afternoon of work.

The left-hander tied a White Sox franchise and American League record for consecutive strikeouts to start a game by fanning the first seven. Crochet equaled the mark previously held by Carlos Rodón (Sept. 30, 2016 vs. Minnesota) and Joe Cowley (May 28, 1986 at Texas), as well as Blake Snell with the Rays in ‘18. The White Sox in-game record is held by Lucas Giolito, who fanned eight straight against the Royals on Sept. 12, 2019.

Crochet’s run began with Francisco Lindor swinging through a 1-2 four-seamer at 98.9 mph and ended when Luis Torrens grounded out to third baseman Miguel Vargas for the second out of the third inning. Crochet (6-10) topped 100 mph twice during his outing, per Statcast, and recorded eight swings and misses and eight called strikes.

“It was cool,” said Crochet of the K streak to start the action, with his season total now sitting third in the AL at 188. “Sadly, I kind of wasted a lot of pitches in that time. So it kind of ate into my pitch count a little earlier than I would have liked. Hopefully, as the outings go on, I can get a little closer to the fifth inning to just kind of help the bullpen out.

“I felt really good with my stuff today. The cutter felt like I was really able to just throw as hard as I could and it was going where I wanted it up until the Lindor one. Besides that, I was really happy.”

That cutter to Lindor was launched out to left-center field for his 29th home run of the season leading off the fourth. Jose Iglesias and Mark Vientos followed with singles to put runners on first and third with nobody out, and after striking out Pete Alonso, Crochet’s impressive start came to an end at eight strikeouts, 57 pitches and 42 strikes.

A second-half innings limit has been imposed on Crochet, as his single-season high rose Sunday to 132. He clearly understands the restrictions being put upon a 25-year-old who had 73 innings total over his first three seasons in the bullpen, but it’s not any easier for this intense competitor to depart when the time comes.

“Yeah, he didn’t want to come out. And he’s not going to,” White Sox interim manager Grady Sizemore said. “It’s just the competitor in him. He’s pretty frustrated when I came out there, but he knows the situation and what we’re trying to do. He threw well. He was on, he had good stuff.”

“He was really, really good,” said Mets manager Carlos Mendoza of Crochet. “We've seen some really good arms throughout the year, and that right there was pretty special.”

With this little bit of good news, though, comes the overwhelming bad news overtaking this overall rotten White Sox season. Sunday’s setback was the 107th for Chicago, against just 31 wins, breaking the franchise record of 106 shared with the 1970 team.

The White Sox have been shut out 15 times, swept 22 times and have lost 17 straight series. They finished 0-10 on this homestand, marking the first time to hit such futility, and with their third losing streak of 10+ games (also losing 21 and 14 straight earlier this year), they joined the 1961 Senators, the '62 Mets and the '65 Mets as the only teams to lose 10 or more consecutive contests three different times in a single season.

Their record dropped to 4-40 over the past 44 games, joining the 1916 A’s (3-41) as the only teams in the modern era to have a stretch of 40 losses in 44 games. The White Sox need to finish 12-12 to avoid the 120-loss mark set by the 1962 Mets, with the squad currently on pace to lose 125.

“There’s not really a perspective to put into it at this point,” Crochet said. “It sucks to say that we’ve been here before and we’ve dug ourselves out of it with a win. We just continue to come to the field every day fighting and playing a good brand of baseball.”

“We’re trying to just improve upon every day and get better as each series goes on,” Sizemore said. “My message has been the same since I got here, and it’s not about the record, it’s not about wins. It’s just about competing and playing together as a team.”