White Sox have a record day the wrong way on Thursday

CHICAGO – Around 1 PM today, there was hope that the team would be able to pull off arguably their best series win of the 2022 Major League Baseball season.

Just after 5 PM, the mood was the complete opposite for the White Sox, who instead had a record day in the wrong way in their home ballpark on Thursday afternoon.

The team lost to the American League-leading Astros 21-5 Thursday afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field. That is the most runs ever scored by an opponent or the White Sox themselves in the history of the venue, which has also been known as Comiskey Park and Guaranteed Rate Field since it was opened in 1991.

They had previously allowed 20 runs on two occasions to the same opponent: The Minnesota Twins.

The first was on July 6, 2007 when the White Sox lost 20-14 in the first of a doubleheader at the ballpark as the Twins got 21 hits.

Two years later on May 21, 2009, the game was much less competitive as Minnesota won it 20-1 at was then US Cellular Field.

On this record-breaking day, the Astros got those 21 runs on 25 hits off three White Sox pitchers and an infielder who took the mound in what was already a blowout in the ninth inning.

Josh Harrison was the one who gave up the record runs as he surrendered four of them on six hits in the ninth before finally getting out of the inning.

Starter Lucas Giolito had another rough day in what’s been an inconsistent 2022 season as he surrendered seven runs on eight hits in three innings. Vince Velazquez and Jose Ruiz didn’t fare much better as each pitcher allowed five runs each to the potent Houston lineup.

More important than the run total was missing the opportunity to win a series in which the White Sox won the first two games. A 3-2 loss on Wednesday night coupled with the 21-5 defeat on Thursday forces them to settle for the split of the four-game set, putting them 2 1/2 games behind the Guardians for first place in the American League Central division.

That’s who the White Sox will face in their three-game series coming up this weekend in Cleveland, with Game 1 slated for Friday at 6:10 PM.