White Sox-Mariners preview
SEATTLE -- The Chicago White Sox finally got a little offense Monday night, and they got a typically dominant performance from starter Chris Sale.
And yet Chicago carries a five-game losing streak into Tuesday's game against the Seattle Mariners.
On a night when the hits finally started coming ... well, the hits kept on coming. Chicago closer David Robertson gave up four runs with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning as Seattle extended the White Sox's frustration by rallying for a 4-3 win.
"(Sale) did what an ace does -- he threw eight innings and didn't give up any runs," a frustrated Robertson said after the game. "I went in and just blew it."
White Sox manager Robin Ventura wasn't quite as emotional after the loss, but he was still dissatisfied with an offense that hit two home runs and piled up 11 hits.
"We got a couple home runs to get us going," Ventura said with a shrug. "We've still got a ways to go, though."
The White Sox, who have now scored four runs over a span of five games dating back to the final game before the All-Star break, will go up against struggling Seattle starter Wade Miley on Tuesday.
Miley (6-6) is seeking his first win since June 7. He is 0-4 with a 6.00 ERA over his past four starts.
Until the ninth inning Monday, Seattle (47-46) wasn't providing much offense for its pitchers. The Mariners had scored two total runs over 26 innings before breaking out with four when down to their last out Monday.
Whether that will carry over to Tuesday is still to be determined, but the Mariners probably will go into the game on a high.
"That's why you play," Seattle first baseman Adam Lind said after hitting a pinch-hit, three-run homer with two outs in the ninth to give the Mariners their most improbable win of the year. "Moments like that are the best part of the season."
Seattle's offense remained in a funk for the first eight innings, but manager Scott Servais didn't seem too concerned. Sale, he said, was a huge factor in the lack of hitting as the Mariners fell behind 3-0 before the ninth-inning rally.
"He's about as good as it gets," Servais said of Sale. "He's a special pitcher, no doubt about it."
The White Sox (45-47) will send another left-hander to the mound on Tuesday, Jose Quintana (7-8).
In six career games against Seattle, five of them starts, Quintana is 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA.
Miley is 1-2 with a 6.52 career ERA in three starts against the White Sox.
Chicago is mired in a five-game losing streak for the third time this season. The White Sox also lost five in a row in early June, days after they snapped a season-worst, seven-game slide. After jumping out to a 23-10 record by May 9, Chicago has fallen on hard times. A three-game sweep against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim last weekend that saw the White Sox score just one total run looked like the low point, but Monday night's ninth inning added a new nadir.
Seattle is looking for its first back-to-back wins since sweeping the Baltimore Orioles in a three-game series July 1-3.