ANAHEIM -- When Adam Eaton doubled home Omar Narváez with two outs in the third inning of an 8-1 loss to the Angels on Sunday afternoon, the White Sox streak of 34 consecutive scoreless innings came to an end.
That run served as dubious highlight for the White Sox, ranking behind Carson Fulmer's Major League debut in the seventh, as the team would not score again and has gone scoreless in 40 of its last 41 innings played. So the solution appears fairly basic in order to salvage the club's borderline playoff hopes, with the White Sox sitting nine games behind the Indians in the American League Central and 5 1/2 games behind the Blues Jays in the AL Wild Card race.
"We need to score runs. Offensively, we've got to pick it up," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "Scoring one in a series is not going to do it for you. We've got to pick it up offensively."
"We're not finding ways to manufacture or put the ball in play," White Sox third baseman Todd Frazier said. "That's the frustrating part. We have good opportunities and you think back to, 'What could I have done?' I had opportunities yesterday, today even in the second inning grounded out into a double play and that's not me, not me at all."
Frustration for the White Sox extends beyond their offensive woes.
Ventura's crew won five straight series, with playoff contenders such as the Blue Jays, Red Sox and Astros among that vanquished group, after losing 26 of 36 games. But the White Sox lost that momentum, dropping five of their last six against the Braves and Angels, two of the teams with the worst records in the Majors.
Strong pitching performances from James Shields twice and Miguel González have been wasted during this stretch, and the White Sox sit behind five teams for the second AL Wild Card spot alone. Frazier thought back Sunday to his 2014 Reds, who entered the All-Star break at 51-44, lost three straight to the Yankees out of the break and never got back in sync.
"It can get away like that," Frazier said. "It's pretty embarrassing, and it starts with me. Right now, I need to get runners in.
"With this team, I think we'll be OK. It's just a matter of grinding out at-bats. Too many strikeouts. Pitchers doing their job, man."