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Lenyn Sosa began the third inning of Tuesday’s doubleheader opener against the Philadelphia Phillies with a single to right field.
It briefly jump-started the Chicago White Sox offense.
Elvis Andrus followed with a broken-bat single to right. Andrew Benintendi also singled to right to load the bases for Luis Robert Jr., who snapped an 0-for-16 slide with a two-run bloop double to right.
Two more runs scored when Andrew Vaughn singled to center. Eloy Jiménez made it six hits in a row with a single to right-center.
But the bats quickly cooled off and the four-run surge wasn’t enough to overcome a big game by former Sox infielder Josh Harrison, who had three hits and four RBIs to lead the Phillies to a 7-4 victory in Game 1 at Guaranteed Rate Field.
“We gave a good effort, but at the end of the day we probably have to tack on there (in the third) and either tie it up or take the lead to be able to win that ballgame,” Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “But our guys battled, they played hard, they fought to the end.”
The loss, combined with the Detroit Tigers’ doubleheader sweep of the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday, dropped the Sox into fourth place in the American League Central.
The Sox had only two hits — doubles by Benintendi in the fourth and Yasmani Grandal in the sixth — after their spurt in the third.
“We’ve got to continue to shrink the strike zone and rack up those pitches on the other side as well,” Grifol said. “Overall, we did OK but not good enough to overcome that five-run deficit.”
They also were done in by Harrison, who slashed .256/.317/.370 in 119 games with the Sox in 2022. The Sox declined their $5.5 million option on Harrison, 35, in November, and he signed a one-year, $2 million deal with the Phillies in January.
His two-run single in the third gave the Phillies a 5-0 lead. The Sox responded with the four runs in the bottom of the inning.
Sox starter Lance Lynn found a rhythm after a bumpy beginning to keep the game close. He allowed five runs on 10 hits with seven strikeouts and three walks in 5⅓ innings.
“He’s been battling,” Grifol said. “It seems like every ball he leaves out over the plate, they’re hitting. He’s not trying to get in trouble early, it just happens that balls were finding some holes early. It’s just not going our way right now. It’s not going his way.
“He settles down and he gives us the innings he needs to give us. That’s a credit to him and what he does. He kept us in that ballgame. He saved our bullpen.”
Grifol pointed out that all 10 hits Lynn allowed were singles.
“That’s part of the game,” Lynn said. “Last couple starts have been a bunch of home runs. So you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t right now. That’s just where I’m at.
“Right now, I’m not in a good rhythm, I’m not throwing the ball well and I’m not having productive outings. I’ve got to be better.”
Reliever Jimmy Lambert had two big strikeouts to help the Sox out of a jam in the sixth as the deficit remained a run.
“When you’re in that spot, that part of the lineup, able to get out of it, that was huge,” Lynn said. “Jimmy’s very capable of that, especially in those situations, coming in with runners on.”
Harrison’s two-out, two-run homer off Lambert in the seventh provided a cushion for the Phillies as the Sox lost for the fifth time in six games.
“It’s April, but you’ve got to get it moving just to make sure you don’t get too far behind,” Lynn said.
