White Sox tie franchise record with 106th loss, with 1 more month to go

There has been no shortage of ways to illustrate that the Chicago White Sox are having the horror season of all horror seasons, but a new one arrived Saturday.

The White Sox lost 5-3 to the New York Mets, tying a franchise record with their 106th defeat of the season — with an entire month (25 games) left in the regular season. The loss was also their ninth straight in a season that has already seen separate losing streaks of 21 and 14 games.

If they lose Sunday, the Sox will own the three longest losing streaks in MLB this season (the Pittsburgh Pirates are currently third with 10 straight losses earlier this month).

Every loss is unique, though. This one saw the Mets take a 2-0 lead in the first inning off solo homers by Jesse Winker and Pete Alonso. Chicago went on to enter the ninth inning down 5-2 but got the tying run to the plate with a double from Miguel Vargas and a single by Jacob Amaya.

Vargas scored on a fielder's choice from Corey Julks, but that was all the White Sox would get.

The White Sox are standing on the precipice of a place in MLB history that they will never live down. They were eliminated from playoff contention on Aug. 17, making them the earliest team ever. They are on pace for a record of 37-125, which would shatter the record for most losses in the season. They are already receiving pity from the current owners of that record, the 40-120 1962 Mets.

It really has been that bad, and they have a full month to make it worse. At this point, they should be grateful that the 1899 Cleveland Spiders and their 20-134 record exist — and lament that the modern era of MLB history began in 1900.