MINNEAPOLIS -- Pedro Grifol is not dwelling on job security.

Yes, the White Sox suffered a 6-3 loss to the Twins on Thursday afternoon at Target Field, completing Minnesota’s four-game sweep, capping an 0-7 road trip for the White Sox and dropping them to a 3-22 start for the 2024 season.

So, it’s plausible to point the finger of blame at this team’s manager.

But in his second year at the helm -- with an overall mark of 64-123 -- Grifol understands the control for his employment relies with others. He only can control the many things directly under his watch.

“That to me is coming to the ballpark, preparing this club to play a game and win a game,” Grifol said before his team fell to 1-13 on the road and 2-15 against the American League Central this season.

“I’ve had conversations, good conversations, with [general manager] Chris [Getz], and I’ve had conversations with [chairman] Jerry [Reinsdorf]. Not about my job or job security or anything like that. There’s always good communication going on.

“I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I’m oblivious to our record and oblivious to things, because I’m not. At the same time, I’m not going to concern myself with that. I know the job this staff is doing. I know the players, the effort they are putting in. I know the care, the want, the will to have success. I know the work that’s going on. That’s the only thing we can control.”

Mixing in a few victories would be nice as well, even for a team plagued by injuries to key players like Luis Robert Jr. and Yoan Moncada, and clearly not set up as a playoff contender in ‘24.

The White Sox held a 2-0 lead through five innings behind Michael Soroka in Thursday’s finale before Edouard Julien and Ryan Jeffers connected on back-to-back pitches for home runs to open the sixth.

The Twins (11-13) scored another run against Tanner Banks in the sixth, with Soroka departing after 68 pitches, and built the lead to 6-2 in the ninth on homers from Carlos Santana and Jose Miranda. The White Sox loaded the bases with one out in the ninth and scored a run on Santana’s fielding error on Robbie Grossman’s hard-hit grounder.

Much like the second inning, when the White Sox loaded the bases with none out and scored just once, the South Siders pushed across only one in their final at-bats as Andrew Vaughn grounded out to second against Griffin Jax.

“Yeah, just gotta keep working,” said Vaughn, who had two hits on the day. “I’m pretty disappointed in that last at-bat. Got a good pitch I could hit and just trying to come through for the team there.”

Grifol isn’t shying away from the blame game. He dealt with this same issue in 2023, when the White Sox finished 61-101, and told people the situation was on him, it was on the manager. He’s been through these extreme struggles, working as part of a Royals staff with 104 losses in 2018 and 103 in ‘19.

Neither of those teams dipped to the depths of 3-22.

“It’s part of the job. You don’t take this job thinking, ‘Oh, man. Maybe there’s pressure. Maybe there’s no pressure,’” Grifol said. “You take the job knowing there’s pressure. It just comes with the job.

“I actually enjoy pressure. I really do. It just keeps me going. It motivates me. It gets me up in the morning. It keeps me creative. That’s just the way I’m wired. I don’t like losing. I don’t think anybody in this clubhouse does. We know where we are at and we know the work we have to put in to get out of it.”

White Sox senior vice president/general manager Chris Getz and Grifol talk quite a bit, either by text or by phone, with Grifol adding the two had talked a couple of times Thursday morning. Getz will address the media early on in this upcoming six-game homestand and will have a chance to speak on Grifol’s job performance.

Players are standing behind this staff.

“Everybody wants it,” Soroka said. “We’ve been over this before: There’s no lack of effort that’s going into turning this thing around. At this point, we’ve talked about it and we want to be the group that does kind of make that change in this organization.”

“We are all in this thing together and we are all trying to get out of this, and start moving in the direction we feel like we are going to be,” Grifol said. “There’s some things that have to get done and we have to continue to stay true to the process.”