OAKLAND, Calif. – So this is what victory feels like.
The White Sox had long forgotten.
But at long last, after an American League record 21 losses in a row set the night before, the Sox found a way to grind one out Tuesday, defeating the Athletics 5-1 before 5,867 fans at Oakland Coliseum.
Andrew Benintendi hit a two-run homer against Ross Stripling in the fourth, and Andrew Vaughn delivered a two-out single before Brooks Baldwin scored on a wild pitch in a two-run sixth for a 4-1 lead. Right-hander Jonathan Cannon escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first and logged six innings of one-run ball.
The Sox (28-88), who haven’t won a series since June, have a chance to win one Wednesday afternoon. At 60 games below .500, the Sox stopped two losses shy of the 1961 Phillies record 23-game losing streak but they remain ahead of the expansion 1962 Mets record 120 losses.
Dominic Leone, pitching for the first time since May 20 after coming off the 60-day injured list with right elbow inflammation, pitched a perfect seventh.
Chad Kuhl pitched a scoreless eighth and John Brebbia wrapped it up in the ninth.
Larry Sheets played on the 1988 Orioles, who lost their first 21 games.
The Sox will celebrate 125 years of baseball in 2025. Chances are they won’t mark the occasion with a 125-game losing streak, but we can’t discount the possibility.
White Sox looking for first win in 27 days
The Sox fell to the Athletics 5-1 to tie the 1988 Orioles’ AL record, moving them within two losses of the 1961 Phillies’ major-league mark.