DETROIT (AP) — The Chicago White Sox lost their post-1900s, major league-record 121st game Friday night, falling 4-1 to the Detroit Tigers.
The White Sox broke the mark of 120 set by the New York Mets in 1962 in their first season. The Cleveland Spiders hold the overall record, going 20-134 in 1899.
“Honestly, there's nothing for me right now,” manager Grady Sizemore said. “I think the frustration came long before this number. This was one of those things you can't be happy about, but I don't know if I would feel any different if we were at 115 or 110.”
The closest any team had come to New York's record was the 2003 Tigers, who won their final two games to finish with 119 losses. That remained the American League record until the White Sox hit 120 on Sunday in San Diego.
After avoiding the record by sweeping the Los Angeles Angels at home, the White Sox lost to a Tigers team that wrapped up a postseason spot in front of 44,435 raucous fans.
The White Sox were the ones going to the postseason as recently as 2021.
“It's tough watching them celebrate, because that was us just a couple years ago,” starting pitcher Garrett Crochet said.
Crochet gave them a chance, finishing his season with four shutout innings, but the White Sox couldn't score early and Jared Shuster gave up two runs in the fifth.
Zach DeLoach hit his first homer in the sixth, but Dominic Fletcher's error in center field led to two more Tigers runs in the seventh.
Chicago went out quietly against the red-hot Tigers bullpen.
“No one in our clubhouse is feeling sorry for themselves,” Sizemore said. “There's a lot left in the tank, but (the Tigers) have shown a lot in these last couple months. They are just getting better.”
The White Sox, who are last in the American League in runs scored and runs allowed, have threatened the 120-loss barrier since starting the season with 25 losses in their first 28 games.
“We put ourselves in this position early on,” Crochet said. “We had a bad April and we never dug ourselves out of that hole.”
Chicago was 15-48 after losing 14-2 to the Red Sox on June 6 — the Mets were 17-46 after 63 games — but won the next two games to start an 11-16 run. That left them at 26-64, two games better than New York's record after 90 games.
At that point, it looked as if they could avoid matching the Tigers and Mets, but they lost 23 of their next 24 games, including a 20-game losing streak.
By the time they beat the Athletics 5-1 on Aug. 6, they were on pace for 124 losses.
Another 10-game losing streak, stretching from August into September left them at 31-109 (.221). At that point, the question seemed to be whether they could keep the total losses from approaching 125.
That didn't look likely when they fell to 33-115 after a 2-0 home loss to the A's on Sept. 13. To avoid breaking the record, they needed seven wins in their final 12 games.
They came closer than anyone could have expected. They won the last two games against Oakland and the first game of a road series against the Angels.
A five-game losing streak followed and they matched the record against the Padres, but they returned home to outscore the Angels 14-5 in a three-game sweep. They finished 23-58 at home to avoid another record - the 59 home losses by the 1939 St. Louis Browns and the 2019 Tigers.
“We're trying to end on a positive anyway we can,” Sizemore said.
Three years after the 2006 Tigers lost 119 games, they went to the World Series on Magglio Ordonez's ALCS walk-off homer against the Athletics.
“Anything can happen in this game, and that's a good example,” Sizemore said. “There's a lot of work for us to do, and right now, we're focused on getting ourselves better.”
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Chicago White Sox's Zach DeLoach (31) celebrates after hitting a home run against the Detroit Tigers during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)
Chicago White Sox pitcher Fraser Ellard throws warmup pitches during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Chicago White Sox's Andrew Vaughn (25) walks off the field as the Detroit Tigers celebrate after making the playoffs after a win in a baseball game Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Tigers, the hottest team in baseball the last several weeks, earned an AL wild card berth Friday night to end a decade-long postseason drought.
“This team is pretty dangerous,” Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said. “We got a chance to make some noise in October, and we’re going to keep fighting for for the opportunity.”
Detroit clinched a spot in the playoffs with a 4-1 win over the Chicago White Sox, who set a modern major league record with their 121st loss.
The Tigers have been on a tear, winning six straight and 10 of 11 to surge into the playoffs for the first time since 2014.
Detroit was 55-63 on Aug. 10 — 10 games out of the last wild card — and then went 31-11. During that stretch, the Tigers have the lowest ERA in baseball and the largest run differential.
“It’s been a dream come true,” first baseman Spencer Torkelson said.
AL Cy Young Award favorite Tarik Skubal leads Detroit's rotation and Jason Foley has become a reliable closer in a strong bullpen. He earned his 28th save in the series opener against Chicago.
Riley Greene, an All-Star outfielder, is the team's top player in a lineup that gets timely hitting from the top to the bottom.
Torkelson, the No. 1 overall pick in 2020, was sent to the minors during the season and bounced back well enough to contribute to the team's late run.
“That’s what makes it so special, when you do win,” Torkelson said. “It’s not always going to be perfect. You’re not always going to get a hit. You’re not always going to strike the guy out. But just grinding through it and and persevering, that’s what makes it so, so special.”
Taking advantage of playing a historically bad team, Detroit broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning of the playoff-clinching win. Jake Rogers scored when Jared Shuster was charged with a wild pitch even though the ball didn’t hit the dirt just below catcher Korey Lee’s glove.
Greene put Detroit ahead 3-1 with a double in the seventh, and Chicago helped the home team’s cause again later in the inning when Fraser Ellard threw the team’s third wild pitch of the night.
Detroit went into the season expecting to contend for a spot in the playoffs in a second full season under Harris and A.J. Hinch's fourth year as manager.
“With every player I hugged, I had a flashback to some moment of adversity they faced, or some moment where we challenged them to do something differently and all of these guys did,” Harris said on the field following the game. “They rose to the occasion and they deserve it. I’m really, really proud of them.”
The Tigers started strong, winning six of their first seven games. They had a winning record until mid-May, when the team started to slide in the standings.
They appeared to be out of pitching at the end of July when Kenta Maeda was demoted to the bullpen, Casey Mize and Reese Olson were injured and Jack Flaherty was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Each time it looked like the Tigers might rally, they would fail to sustain success and many fans in the state turned their attention to football.
Hinch got creative, rolling with a rotation of Skubal and rookie Keider Montero while relying on the bullpen to pitch entire games such as the series opener against the White Sox in front of 44,435 fans at Comerica Park.
Skubal and Montero have combined to go 11-3 since August 1, but only one other starting pitcher has won a game, and that was Brant Hurter against the Los Angeles Angels a month ago.
The Motor City's baseball team salvaged the season and revived interest, drawing big crowds after closing recent seasons in a mostly empty ballpark.
“It’s been a long time since this organization was in the playoffs and these fans deserve it,” Harris said.
This story has been corrected. A previous version reported erroneously that the Tigers' win eliminated the Minnesota Twins from the playoffs.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Detroit Tigers catcher Jake Rogers, left, and relief pitcher Jason Foley celebrate after the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Members of the Detroit Tigers celebrate after the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Members of the Detroit Tigers celebrate after the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Detroit Tigers outfielder Parker Meadows celebrates after the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Detroit Tigers third baseman Matt Vierling throws out Chicago White Sox's Lenyn Sosa at first base in the seventh inning of a baseball game, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)
Detroit Tigers' Brenan Hanifee pitches against the Chicago White Sox during the second inning of a baseball game Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)
Detroit Tigers outfielder Parker Meadows connects for a single during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Detroit Tigers' Matt Vierling hits a sacrifice fly to score Parker Meadows during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Detroit Tigers' Matt Vierling reacts after scoring during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Detroit Tigers' Andy Ibáñez reacts after reaching third during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
The Detroit Tigers celebrate after defeating the Chicago White Sox to win a wildcard spot in the Major League Baseball playoffs Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)
Detroit Tigers' Matt Vierling celebrates after defeating the Chicago White Sox to get into the playoffs in a baseball game, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)
Tigers clinch AL wild card with 4-1 win over White Sox, ending decade-long postseason drought
Tigers clinch AL wild card with 4-1 win over White Sox, ending decade-long postseason drought
The Detroit Tigers, including Tyler Holton (87), Jace Jung (17), Matt Vierling (8), Zach McKinstry, Trey Sweeney (27) and Kerry Carpenter, celebrate after defeating the Chicago White Sox to win a wildcard spot in the major league baseball playoffs, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)
