CLEVELAND -- There was no White Sox players only meeting following Wednesday afternoon's 12-0 loss to the Indians at Progressive Field, completing the American League Central leaders' second three-game home sweep of the South Siders since May 28.
But there was disappointment, frustration and a little bit of anger emanating from the visitors, expressed by starting and losing pitcher Reynaldo Lopez (2-5) after his team lost its seventh straight contest.
"It's unacceptable for us to look the way we looked today," said Lopez through interpreter Billy Russo. "Nobody is happy about the way we looked today.
"Honestly, we looked like clowns there, starting with me. But I know we can do better. It's a matter of us to keep grinding, improving and working hard."

There's little doubt the White Sox are somewhat undermanned at the big league level in Year 2 of their rebuild, especially with veteran contributors like Avisail Garcia, Leury Garcia and Miguel Gonzalez working their way back from injury. But they need to play better baseball as a whole, a point White Sox manager Rick Renteria acknowledged prior to this series finale.
Facing Cleveland starters Trevor Bauer, Mike Clevinger and Corey Kluber on back-to-back-to-back days certainly does not help a team that has scored 16 runs over its 0-7 stretch. The White Sox managed one Omar Narvaez single in seven innings off Kluber, with the offense pretty much going downhill after Yoan Moncada's nine-pitch at-bat resulted in a swinging strikeout to open the game.
But even if the Indians were considerably better in this series, the White Sox didn't help themselves from the start. Lopez walked leadoff batter Francisco Lindor on four pitches to open the first, followed by a Moncada fielding error on a Michael Brantley grounder between first and second and then a three-run Jose Ramirez home run.

"He has to be able to catch that ball," said Renteria of Moncada's miscue. "All these kids are our guys. So as long as they are our guys, we will continue to address it, continue to deal with it, continue to work on it. Ultimately you reach a different point of understanding of every pitch and every thing you do matters and they are going to continue to gain experience.
"They have to go through the suffering, even if it's coming from their manager saying, 'Hey, that's a play that has to be made.' That's suffering for them, too. They have to give it the importance it requires."
Moncada, who finished 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, said the topic is not about whether he can or can't make that play.
"On that play, I miscalculated the bounce, and I couldn't catch it. That was what happened," said Moncada through Russo. "It's tough when we have to admit we didn't play as good as we can. We didn't play clean baseball, and we didn't have luck, too. It was tough."

Lopez gave up five runs (four earned) on six hits over 4 1/3 innings, striking out six and walking four. In two starts at Progressive Field this season, Lopez has yielded 11 earned runs in seven innings. He had allowed just four earned runs in his last 19 1/3 innings since his previous Cleveland start on May 30.
The Indians scored six runs in the sixth off reliever Bruce Rondon to further contribute to the day's troubles. All seven of the White Sox recent losses have come against American League Central opponents, dropping them to 11-24 within the division. The White Sox fell to 4-11 in Lopez's 15 starts, scoring a total of 19 runs in those 11 defeats.

Frustration, as expressed by Lopez, is understandable. The White Sox have to work to not let the frustration overcome them as the losses mount.
"It's tough, but instead of getting frustrated, we have to keep working, use that feeling to work harder," Moncada said. "There are still plenty of games to play, and we can improve. We can keep getting better, and if it is not this year, then next year. But definitely the games we have this year, we have a chance to improve."
"For me, we're not having these kinds of performances because we're young," Lopez said. "That's not the reason we're losing games. It's just part of the rebuilding process. For me, it's about intensity, for us to play the way we know we can play the game. Keep working and grinding."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Going, going, gone: Renteria was quietly ejected in the sixth inning. He was discussing a borderline third-strike call on a full-count pitch to Moncada when he was tossed by home-plate umpire Will Little. It was the 15th ejection of Renteria's career, ninth with the White Sox and second this season.
"He should have ejected me. He was actually pretty kind, to be honest," Renteria said. "I was calm. I was trying to not get too crazy.
"It was a little bit of a late call. I just wanted to know where he saw that pitch. Simple as that. He saw it one place and me looking at it on television replay is irrelevant. I just wanted to go talk to him. It was very calm. It was not a very confrontational exchange."

SOUND SMART
The White Sox allowed 10 or more runs for the ninth time this season, which is tied for second in the AL. They were shut out for the eighth time, which is tied with Detroit and Baltimore for tops in the AL.
HE SAID IT
"If the people that care about our guys can't express to them when there is something that can be done, how can you expect to survive when everybody else on the outside might be looking in and saying, 'Geez, you gotta make that play.' We are all looking for the best out of these guys, and he's gonna be pretty good. Don't get me wrong." -- Renteria, on Moncada's first-inning fielding error
MITEL REPLAY OF THE DAY
The Indians appeared to pull of a double steal in the third inning, giving them second and third with one out against Lopez. But Renteria challenged the call of Michael Brantley being safe at third, and replay showed third baseman Yolmer Sanchez tagging Brantley just before he got his hand to the base, and the ruling was overturned for the inning's second out.

UP NEXT
The White Sox return from a quick three-game road trip to begin a seven-game homestand with Thursday's 7:10 p.m. CT first pitch against the A's at Guaranteed Rate Field. Right-hander Lucas Giolito looks to improve on a lofty 11.05 ERA and .295 opponents average against in his seven home starts this season. Oakland will counter with right-hander Chris Bassitt.