One of the longest losing streaks in baseball history has ended. For the first time in nearly a month, the Chicago White Sox have won a game. They did so Tuesday night in Oakland Coliseum against the Athletics, 5-1.
Credit White Sox starting pitcher Jonathan Cannon for a quality outing -- especially in getting himself out of trouble -- here in the winning effort. He allowed only one run in six innings and struck out five. He left the bases loaded in the first, got out of a jam with a double play in the second and stranded two more runners in the fifth.
The bullpen also deserves praise for shutting the door, as it had been especially brutal during the losing streak. In fact, the bullpen had posted a 6.72 ERA from the All-Star break through Monday night. Tuesday, though, relievers Dominic Leone, Chad Kuhl and John Brebbia held the A's down and protected the lead.
On the offensive end, the White Sox got to play with a lead through the middle innings thanks to Andrew Benintendi's two-run shot in the fourth inning and that would end up being all they needed. They would get insurance in the sixth on an Andrew Vaughn RBI single and then a run-scoring wild pitch. A Lenyn Sosa single plated the fifth run in the ninth and really felt like it was the proverbial nail in the coffin for the A's.
Here's the Benintendi homer:
Sox strike first! pic.twitter.com/O1ZrISmxCs
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) August 7, 2024
The White Sox are one of the few teams since 1900 to lose at least 20 games in a row. Here's the full list, now with the White Sox knowing it has stopped at 21:
- 1961 Philadelphia Phillies, 23 games
- 1988 Baltimore Orioles, 21 games
- 2024 Chicago White Sox, 21 games
- 1969 Montreal Expos, 20 games
- 1943 Philadelphia Athletics, 20 games
- 1916 Philadelphia Athletics, 20 games
- 1906 Boston Americans, 20 games
The win on Tuesday prevented them from getting on the precipice of the worst losing streak in MLB history.
The worst record in modern-day Major League Baseball is 40-120, which the 1962 Mets managed. The White Sox are now 28-88, which puts them on pace to finish 39-123.
For now, though, the White Sox get to celebrate a victory, something they hadn't experienced since July 10.
