White Sox fall to Brewers' 'somewhat alarming' singles barrage

MILWAUKEE -- May ended as it started for the White Sox: with another tough loss.

Although the South Siders had the edge Friday after six innings at American Family Field, the Brewers erupted for six runs on eight hits in the seventh and rolled to a 12-5 victory. The setback extended the White Sox losing skid to nine straight, giving them a 1-13 record in their last 14 while falling to a 15-43 mark overall.

This team started with 22 losses in its first 25 games, and it has seemingly fallen farther backward as the months have progressed. Friday's setback was slightly different, though, as the Brewers (34-23) knocked out 23 hits, 18 of them singles.

"We have to look at the video for sure and see where we were, but look at the data and see what happened," White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. "[18] singles, it's somewhat alarming. But we'll look at it. This is the first game that this happened. I gotta give credit to them, too. Those guys grinded out at-bats. They put the ball in play."

"It seems like everywhere we play, the ball gets hit where we're not," Danny Mendick said. "It's like, do we have to move? Do we have to make an adjustment or something like that? It seems like this has kind of been the thing they've been doing for the past week or so, where they get a ton of hits. I think we're going to make an adjustment, but we'll see."

Mendick was part of a scary moment in the third inning when Brewers starter Tobias Myers hit him with a pitch in the left side of the head. Mendick laid on the dirt for a few moments, got to his knees and then went down to first before scoring one of the three runs in the frame.

He turned away just enough that the helmet flap absorbed most of the brunt of the 82.9 mph changeup. So, he was bruised and a little battered postgame but ready to fight forward. Sounds a little bit like the White Sox team as a whole.

"Thank God for that C-flap. A changeup that ran," Mendick said. "Tried to hang in there with two strikes. Came up at the last second. I didn't see the video, but I think it caught the C-flap. The seams are on the helmet. That's where it hit.

"I felt fine," he said. "It just kind of felt like the helmet smacked up against me. My face was a little swollen and it cut my nose a little bit. Other than that, no issues, no headaches, no nothing. I feel good."

The White Sox felt good enough when Erick Fedde moved in and out of traffic over the first five innings, allowing four runs on nine hits. He limited the Brewers to a 2-for-14 showing with runners in scoring position behind eight strikeouts.

Milwaukee had a good approach against the right-hander, making him work in every inning. But the chance was there for the White Sox to end this painful streak until that seventh.

"They took what was given to them," said Fedde, whose ERA sits at 3.12 for the season. "They tried to hit the ball the other way where there were holes.

"Some credit to them for sure. You don't accidentally get 23 hits, but just one of those things. As a pitcher if you're trying to limit damage, balls on the ground are usually a good thing and keep the slug down. Overall, hopefully, it evens out."

Nobody questioned the White Sox effort in this series opener. Grifol praised their pregame, early work and energy in the dugout throughout the three-hour contest.

But the result remained the same, even if the season-high for hits and runs allowed came in a slightly strange fashion. The White Sox fell to 5-22 on the road and 2-17 in series openers.

"There was a will to win a baseball game, and we just got beat. Pretty simple," Grifol said. "We got beat today by a really good team.

"There's not one person in this clubhouse that's a loser," Mendick said. "Try to go out there, prepare every day and do it the same. But losing sucks, there's no two ways about it. Hopefully, we can end this streak and start a new winning streak. That's all we can hope."