'You've got to just keep attacking': White Sox struggle on road trip

MINNEAPOLIS -- The White Sox started their eighth series of the 2024 season Monday night at Target Field with a 7-0 loss to the offensively challenged Twins.

It marked the South Siders’ eighth shutout of the season, balanced with one coming in every series. Those eight shutouts in the first 22 games mark the most in American League/National League history (1901-present).

They also dropped to 0-8 in the first contest of a series, 3-19 overall and 11-40 in March/April over the last two seasons. Yes, it’s tough to hide from all this, and it’s even tougher to stay positive.

But it’s the White Sox job to do so, even having been outscored, 31-7, during their 0-4 start on this seven-game road trip.

“You've got to just keep attacking. You can't get these back. They're in the past. You've got to just keep moving on,” said White Sox second baseman Nicky Lopez, who had two of the team’s eight hits. “Take it one day at a time. Try to regroup.

“This game has a way to beat you down and get slapped in the face, but it's a game of adjustments too. You've got to just keep coming every single day with a positive attitude and hopefully at the end you're where you want to be. But it's easier said than done. A lot of people sometimes struggle with it, the mindset thing."

Minnesota (8-13) scored twice in the first inning off rookie hurler Jonathan Cannon, which was more than enough support for Chris Paddack against a team that has scored one or zero runs a total of 11 times. Cannon blamed poor execution for the results in his second career start, allowing six runs on nine hits over 3⅔ innings with five strikeouts.

White Sox pitchers hardly can afford a rough hitter or two, let alone a rough inning, with the offense as it is. The team has scored a Major League worst 45 runs with a Major League worst 11 home runs.

So, again, the focus of staying positive for a team sitting 13 games out of first in the American League Central comes into play. Manager Pedro Grifol, in very strident postgame tones, had no reservations as to whether fostering this sort of upbeat attitude is possible.

“Today we got our ass kicked. You go home and you reflect and tomorrow is a new day. You can only learn from today and then tomorrow you start the day and that’s it. This day is over,” Grifol said. “If you start mentally crushing yourself on what’s going on or what’s happened or our record or what I’m hitting, it’s going to get even worse.

“You have to start fresh every single day. How else are you going to do it? You can reflect, but you reflect to learn. You don’t reflect to live in that negativity space where it will just continue to crush you if you can’t flush it.”

Even when things go right for the White Sox, they ultimately go wrong. After loading the bases with one out in the fourth, Andrew Vaughn hit a line drive with a 104.7 mph exit velocity, per Statcast, toward right field. Instead of driving in a couple and keeping the line moving, first baseman Alex Kirilloff made a diving catch and Paul DeJong struck out to end the frame scoreless.

It’s been that sort of year for Vaughn, who is hitting .158 with a .444 OPS. It’s been that sort of year for the White Sox as a whole.

“We can’t deny what’s happening. Our record sucks,” Grifol said. “But what are you going to do about it? We have to come tomorrow and get ready to play. You have to forget about today. Learn and move on.”

Danny Mendick knocked out two hits in his return from Triple-A Charlotte. The third baseman had a pregame idea of how to change the White Sox, centered on playing hard as opposed to playing fast as preached during Spring Training.

“A lot of good players here. It’s just about getting back on track and once everyone gets that confidence back, then we start rolling,” Mendick said. “We have to play with confidence. We can’t be timid. We go out there and hit the ball hard, run the bases hard.

“Realistically you look at these teams, you gotta hit homers, you gotta hit doubles, you gotta slug. We have to go up there and hit the ball hard. Make it known that we are here to stay.”