About that record.
You know, that of the 1962 Mets.
It got brushed to the side while the White Sox were captivating a national audience with a horrendous 21-game losing streak, tying the 1988 Orioles’ American League record Monday in Oakland but falling two games short of the 1961 Phillies’ all-time mark.
And then the Sox fired manager Pedro Grifol on Thursday, leaving the Mets’ mark of 120 losses for interim manager Grady Sizemore to avoid.
The audience will begin gathering again in late September, if and when the Sox close in.
The Sox are on pace for 123 losses after their 7-6 loss to the Cubs on Friday night. All-Star left-hander Garrett Crochet allowed four home runs and fell behind 7-0, so the pace is picking up.
“I don’t think anyone in this organization wants to be associated to have a record we could potentially have,” general manager Chris Getz said. “That being said, that hasn’t been our highest priority.”
If it was, Dylan Cease, Michael Kopech, Erick Fedde and Tommy Pham wouldn’t have been traded.
“We did that for the long-term health of the organization,’’ Getz said, ‘‘to put us in a position for the future. . . . Although we want to avoid that record, it wasn’t at all costs.’’
Getz is rebuilding, and “long-term” looks exceptionally long right now. Getz’s message to Sox fans with long looks on their faces?
“We look forward to tonight, playing the Cubs,” he said. “It’s a unique energy that’s in our stadium. We’re going to go out there and fight hard. There will be better days ahead. I know it’s grueling right now, but we’re determined to do this as quickly as we can, but we don’t want to take shortcuts, either. The shortcuts don’t lead to something that’s long-lasting.
“When we get this to where it needs to be, although there were struggles along the way, it can be special for a lot of people when we accomplish something great.”
Crochet KO’d
Crochet lasted 2„ innings, allowing seven earned runs and nine hits, including the four homers and a triple. He struck out five and threw 67 pitches, 45 for strikes, before being replaced by Touki Toussaint.
Isaac Paredes and Nico Hoerner hit consecutive homers in the third inning.
How many more starts Crochet (3.65 ERA) makes as the Sox monitor his workload in his first full season as a starter is not known.
What is known is Crochet’s performance since he pitched a scoreless inning for the American League in the All-Star Game looks like this: 13„ innings, 13 earned runs, 20 hits, 20 strikeouts, seven walks.
Crochet said his issues in recent starts are related to his mechanics and not fatigue.
“The offense fought back, and it was a great game down to the wire,” Crochet said. “If I don’t put us in a hole early, it’s probably a different ballgame.”
Benintendi day
Left fielder Andrew Benintendi threw out Pete Crow-Armstrong at home and homered in his third consecutive game for the third time in his career, both in the fifth inning.
Benintendi homered in his next at-bat against left-hander Drew Smyly and has five homers in his last five games, cutting the Cubs’ lead to 7-5.
Andrew Vaughn homered in a four-run Sox fourth that made it 7-4.