CHICAGO -- The White Sox became the first team in Major League Baseball history with 70 losses before the All-Star break after a 6-2 defeat to the Pirates on Saturday afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field.

So, a postgame question for center fielder Luis Robert Jr. to describe this forgettable White Sox first half came with a somewhat expected answer.

“You can’t hide what everybody can see,” he said through interpreter Billy Russo. “It’s been what it has been. We have to keep working hard to try to get a better second half.”

Give Robert Jr. credit for maintaining hope. Give him just as much credit for not trying to cover up in platitudes what has been an unsightly 97-game run for this 27-70 squad.

While the White Sox rarely get knocked out of a game early, they always seem to have that one moment -- or in Saturday’s case, that one inning -- where the game gets away.

“Those games are definitely tougher to swallow,” said Robert Jr., whose team has 34 losses after leading and has an 8-19 ledger in one-run contests. “That’s part of the game. You try to battle and you try to not get to those situations. But they definitely are tough losses.”

With the game tied at 1 in the seventh, Ke’Bryan Hayes opened with a ground ball past shortstop Nicky Lopez for a single after it was originally scored as an error. White Sox manager Pedro Grifol removed starter Chris Flexen for left-hander Tanner Banks at that point, despite Flexen (2-8) having been strong for six innings and sitting at 78 pitches.

“I felt pretty solid,” Flexen said. “End of the day, it came down to [Grifol’s] decision.”

“I’m not a pitch-count guy,” Grifol said. “I like the matchup there for [Banks] going out against Hayes. We had talked about this early on, that that would be a good pocket for Banks, and it came to fruition and it didn’t work. We had ample opportunities to get out of that inning and didn’t do it.”

Banks went to 2-2 on pinch-hitter Connor Joe before hitting him with a pitch. After Yasmani Grandal struck out on three bunt attempts, Andrew McCutcheon singled off Banks’ glove to load the bases. Bryan Reynolds, who finished 4-for-5 with four RBIs, followed with a go-ahead two-run single.

Losses in the first two games against the Pirates (47-48) leave the White Sox with a 1-15-1 record in their last 17 series. They also are winless in Flexen’s last 12 starts.

This team figures to look quite different, and much younger, after the Trade Deadline on July 30, with general manager Chris Getz open for business across the roster. That list includes Robert Jr., who is under club control at $15 million for ‘25 and then via $20 million club options in ‘26 and ‘27, with a $2 million buyout.

Robert Jr. was asked about trade possibilities once again on Saturday. And once again, he stayed away from speculation.

“I don’t have any idea. My mind is here, and until something changes, I’m here,” Robert Jr. said. “I know there is a chance. Not just me, but the players, we know there is always a chance to be traded. That's something that we can't control.”

There have been strong White Sox teams during the stellar but injury-plagued five-year career of Robert Jr., with the ‘20 squad reaching the playoffs and the ‘21 crew claiming the American League Central title. That ‘21 team finished at 93-69, one less defeat than the White Sox currently have.

Is there reason to be encouraged beyond ‘24 or even ‘25 if Robert Jr. does stay with the White Sox? He put that onus for hope mostly on the front office.

“If they do a good job and put together a good team, yeah, we can be good again, like we were in 2020 and ‘21,” Robert Jr. said. “That’s something I can’t control.

“This is the team that gave me the chance to play here, and we were good here for a couple years. It’d be nice to get back to that, to have a good team and compete with this organization.”