White Sox bullpen struggles to hold late leads in 13-inning loss 

ANAHEIM -- The inability to close games out has been an intransigent problem for the White Sox this season.

On Wednesday afternoon, those struggles to hold a late lead once again reared their ugly head.

The White Sox blew leads in the eighth, 10th and 11th innings before Jairo Iriarte surrendered a walk-off RBI single to Jordyn Adams in the bottom of the 13th to send Chicago to a 4-3 loss to the Angels at Angel Stadium. The White Sox fell to 36-117 and must win at least seven of their final nine games to avoid tying the modern Major League record of 120 losses in a season set by the 1962 New York Mets.

“We had some opportunities, just didn't capitalize,” interim manager Grady Sizemore said. “I think a couple mistakes, too, that could have gone a different way and helped us out.”

The White Sox led 1-0 in the eighth inning, 2-1 in the 10th and 3-2 in the 11th, but lost it each time. Justin Anderson surrendered a game-tying RBI single to Taylor Ward in the eighth, Chad Kuhl allowed a game-tying RBI single to Gustavo Campero in the 10th and Kuhl served up another game-tying single to Eric Wagaman in the 11th.

The White Sox offense kept fighting back after the blown leads before finally running out of gas. Yoán Moncada struck out to leave the bases loaded in the top of the 13th. Iriarte entered in the bottom of the inning and allowed the winning run after Adams’ bouncer to the left side kicked off the glove of a sliding Miguel Vargas, scoring Wagaman.

The White Sox have lost 22 games in which they led after six innings, a major reason why they’re approaching the record for most losses in a season. Their bullpen has a 4.79 ERA, second-worst in the American League.

“We had some opportunities, but again, didn't capitalize on some of those opportunities,” Sizemore said. “Just weren't able to get the momentum.”

The day began on a high note for the White Sox relief corps. Jared Shuster, Gus Varland and Prelander Berroa combined for seven scoreless innings to start a scheduled bullpen game. They allowed just three hits and combined for nine strikeouts.

That success ended in the eighth. Anderson entered and immediately walked pinch-hitter Zach Neto to lead off the inning. After Neto stole second base and advanced to third on a flyout, Taylor Ward ripped a 106.6 mph line drive off the glove of diving shortstop Nicky Lopez into left field for a game-tying RBI single.

Vargas gave the White Sox the lead back with a sacrifice fly in the 10th, but Kuhl entered and surrendered Campero's game-tying RBI single. Andrew Benintendi again gave the White Sox the lead with a two-out RBI single in the top of the 11th, and Kuhl promptly allowed Wagaman to tie the game on his RBI single just two pitches into the inning.

The White Sox stranded the go-ahead run at third in the 12th and left the bases loaded in the 13th, giving the Angels the opportunity they needed. The Angels never led until the winning run scored.

“That was a tough game out there,” said Andrew Vaughn, who homered in the fourth inning. “Back and forth in extras. We'd score, they'd score. We just didn't put them away right there.”

Now, the White Sox head into a three-game series at San Diego just three losses away from the record. With the Padres fighting for playoff position, they know it will be a challenge.

“We get the same question every day,” Sizemore said. “We’re focused on just one series at a time, one game at a time. Everything else is irrelevant right now. We're just trying to get better and win games.”