The 1962 New York Mets lost 120 games, setting the record for the most defeats in a single season in modern baseball history. The 2024 Chicago White Sox are on pace to supplant the Mets as the worst team ever. As the season winds down, we’ll track their efforts to avoid infamy.
CHICAGO — Before Tuesday’s game, a White Sox executive jokingly asked two reporters to try using “record-setting” before the team name instead of a less-flattering description. Well, the record-setting White Sox did it again Tuesday, setting a new record for consecutive home losses with 14. Of course, they broke the record they set Monday night.
Their 5-0 loss to Cleveland was also their 26th defeat in their last 27 home games.
It’s starting to become a trend.
LANE LANE LANE LANE!#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/DpcYUR28Gr
— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) September 11, 2024
Led by Lane Thomas’ three-run homer off Sox reliever Gus Varland in the sixth, Cleveland sent the White Sox to their 113th loss, home or away, of the season. This was the 17th time this season they’ve been shut out. They are eight losses away from surpassing the modern-day loss record of the 1962 Mets, and the only drama now is whether they can win three games between now and Sept. 24 so they can set the record in their final home series.
The Sox are 18-56 at home and their last victory at Guaranteed Rate Field was an improbable 12-2 clobbering of the New York Yankees on Aug. 12. Their previous home victory was against the Twins in the first game of a doubleheader on July 10. The Sox responded with 21 straight losses, tying the American League record.
Before the game, the Sox called up right-hander Sean Burke, who made his major-league debut. He struck out three in two scoreless innings before the Guardians got an unearned run off him in the ninth. The error was his own, coming off an off-target pickoff throw.
Burke, a third-round draft pick in 2021, was supposed to pitch in the Arizona Fall League, but instead is the 62nd player the White Sox have used this season, extending a club record. — Jon Greenberg
Current pace: 125 losses
Games remaining: 16
Wins needed to avoid equaling the ’62 Mets: 10
Next game: Wednesday vs. Cleveland. RHP Matthew Boyd 2-1, 2.20 ERA (Guardians) vs. RHP Davis Martin 0-3, 3.29 ERA (White Sox)
Sept. 9: Loss No. 112 comes as Guardians pitcher flirts with perfection
CHICAGO — The White Sox, who have scored 104 fewer runs than any other team, have proven to be an elixir for any struggling pitcher. That now includes Cleveland Guardians rookie Joey Cantillo, who retired the first 20 Chicago hitters he faced Monday and dealt the White Sox their 112th defeat.
Cantillo registered an 8.47 ERA in his first four spot starts, but in Cleveland’s 5-3 victory, he struck out 10 and kept the White Sox off the bases until Andrew Benintendi’s two-out single to right in the seventh.
What a night for Joey Cantillo!
He has struck out 10 batters in his outing tonight. #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/LJ8jZstH78
— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) September 10, 2024
Strangely, the White Sox have notched more wins against the first-place Guardians (five) than against any other opponent this season. Their loss Monday, however, marked their 13th in a row at home and 25th in their last 26 games at Guaranteed Rate Field. They sit only eight losses from tying the 1962 Mets’ dubious mark. They sit 40 1/2 games out of fourth place in the five-team American League Central. — Zack Meisel
(Top photo of Sean Burke: Matt Dirksen / Getty Images)
