White Sox swept by Rangers; losses mount to 103

For the White Sox’ 102nd loss, a couple of hundred can say they were there.

For their 103rd loss hours later, quite a few more can say they saw one of the catches of the year by Rangers left fielder Travis Jankowski, who skied high above the wall to take a walk-off homer away from Andrew Vaughn in the ninth inning of a 4-3 loss carrying the Rangers to their second win of the day.

Finishing a game suspended by rain after only four pitches the night before, the Sox lost 3-1 to the Rangers before the sparsest of crowds in the first of two games Wednesday at Guaranteed Rate Field.

The 4:10 p.m. start, scheduled just 19 hours earlier, figured to attract a small crowd and had about 150-200 fans on a 77-degree afternoon at the first pitch. The loss in the second game left the Sox needing to go 12-16 over their last 28 games to avoid tying the 1962 Mets (40-120) for most losses in major league history.

The Sox, 4-32 since the All-Star break, fell to 72 games below .500.

The paid attendance for the two games was 11,285 for the Sox, who were averaging 18,342 average in their first 63 home dates which ranks 27th among 30 teams.

The audience in the first game was reminiscent of the 2020 COVID season when games were played without fans.

“I wasn’t around in the COVID days,” Sox interim manager Grady Sizemore said, “but you could hear everything. But I felt like the guys played hard, just couldn’t string anything together offensively.”

“You know you have to tone down your comments, though, because you know everybody can hear them,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said.

Chris Flexen (2-13, 5.29 ERA) gave up three runs on nine hits and two walks while striking out four over 6 1/3 relief innings. The Sox are 0-19 in games Flexen has started.

The catch

Jankowski’s catch came with two on and one out in the ninth in Game 2.

“I mean, it was over the fence. Guy made one of the greatest catches you’ll see in a long time,” Vaughn said.

“That one hurts, that stings. I thought we had it,” Sizemore said. “We’re being tested right now.

Unawareness stings

Second baseman Lenyn Sosa, made the last out of Game 2, had two misplays in the field and was fortunate to avoid a serious injury when catcher Chuckie Robinson’s eye-level throw to second before the eighth inning started hit him in the face. Sosa had his head down and didn’t know the throw was coming. Moments earlier, Sosa wasn’t running and was called for interfering with Texas catcher Carson Kelly on a pop-up near the plate.

“The bill of the hat took the worst of it,” Sizemore said of an occurrence that makes the 2024 lowlight list, “but still got him square in the nose.”

Sosa did tie the game with an RBI single in the fifth.

This and that

• Nick Nastrini will be recalled from Triple-A Charlotte to start the series finale Thursday afternoon. The Sox have lost 16 straight series.
• Right-handed reliever Matt Foster, called up from Triple-A Charlotte as the 27th man in the second game, pitched two scoreless innings as the opener and was returned to Charlotte after the game.
• Right-hander Steven Wilson, who had been on the 15-day injured list with a low back strain, joined Triple-A Charlotte for a rehab assignment.
• Infielder Nick Senzel, designated for assignment Monday, elected free agency rather that report to Triple – Charlotte.
• The Sox have used a franchise record 59 players this season, including 31 pitchers, a turnover that has seen the entire Opening Day bullpen not on the current active roster.