CHICAGO — Luis Robert Jr., Gavin Sheets and Andrew Vaughn homered, and the Chicago White Sox stopped a 14-game losing streak by downing the Boston Red Sox 7-2 on Friday night.
Garrett Crochet struck out 10 in six innings as Chicago posted its first win since a 5-0 victory at Toronto on May 21. The 14-game slide set a franchise record for a single season, and it was the longest losing streak in the majors since the Angels also dropped 14 straight in 2022.
“Just to stop the streak, I mean it’s time to move on,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “Let’s continue to play baseball. I’m really proud of these guys.”
Robert hit a 430-foot solo drive to centre off Cooper Criswell with two out in the first. Sheets and Vaughn began the sixth with consecutive homers against Greg Weissert, lifting the White Sox to a 6-2 lead.
Boston had won four of six. Connor Wong had two of the team’s six hits.
The Red Sox finished the game without right fielder Tyler O’Neill, who departed in the third because of right knee discomfort. O’Neill was just activated from the 10-day injured list on Wednesday after being sidelined by right knee inflammation.
“Hopefully we avoid the IL, but at the same time playing short doesn’t make sense,” manager Alex Cora said.
Criswell (3-3) permitted four runs, three earned, and five hits in 4 1/3 innings. He has a 5.40 ERA over his last seven starts.
The White Sox went ahead to stay with three runs in the fourth, highlighted by Oscar Colás’ tiebreaking two-run single through a drawn-in infield.
Crochet (6-5) allowed three hits and one earned run. The left-hander improved to 5-1 with a 1.10 ERA in his last seven starts.
“It was huge. The guys in there, we showed no quit,” Crochet said. “Tonight I think that you kind of saw that.”
Jonathan Cannon pitched three innings for his first career save. Duke Ellis dropped Ceddanne Rafaela’s liner to left for an error, but Jarren Duran bounced to shortstop for the final out.
“I just went out there and I was going to go until they told me to stop,” Cannon said.
The Red Sox scored both of their runs during a strange sequence in the second inning.
Bobby Dalbec walked and scored from first when Crochet committed a throwing error on Duran’s comebacker. Duran missed first on the play and the White Sox decided to appeal. Duran started running when Crochet threw over, and he swiped home for a 2-1 lead.
Vaughn went to the bag after the throw got away from him, but the appeal was denied.
Grifol said he didn’t see the call, so he felt as if he wasn’t able to challenge the decision with plate umpire Sean Barber.
“So once everything was over, I said, ‘Sean, can we appeal?’ And he said, ‘You already did,’” Grifol said. “I didn’t see it. He called him safe. So at that point, I didn’t challenge anything because I thought time had elapsed.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Red Sox: OF/DH Masataka Yoshida (left thumb strain) will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester on Saturday. “We’ll see how it goes over the weekend, but this is a huge step for us,” Cora said.
UP NEXT
Right-handers Brayan Bello (6-2, 4.36 ERA) and Nick Nastrini (0-5, 9.74 ERA) take the mound on Saturday. Bello surrendered four runs in 6 1/3 innings in Boston’s 8-4 loss to Detroit on Sunday. Nastrini is looking for his first major league win after dropping his first five starts for Chicago.
