Lance Lynn was one out away from escaping trouble without any damage in the first inning Thursday against the San Francisco Giants.
The Chicago White Sox starter quickly got ahead in the count 1-2 facing Michael Conforto with runners on second and third. Conforto connected on Lynn’s next pitch, an 88.6-mph cutter, for a three-run homer.
For the second time in three games, the Sox could not keep the ball in the park. They allowed five home runs in a 16-6 loss to the Giants in front of 18,261 at Guaranteed Rate Field.
The Giants hit seven homers in Monday’s series opener, beating the Sox 12-3. They out-homered the Sox 13-1 in the series while winning two of the three.
“It was a bad series,” Lynn said. “When we made mistakes, they made it hurt. That will happen. Unfortunately it happens during your first homestand, so that sucks. We have to make better pitches, quality pitches, and that’s something we are very capable of doing.”
The 13 homers were the most by the Giants in a three-game series since they also hit 13 from April 28-30, 1961, at the Milwaukee Braves, according to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs.
“They just didn’t miss the pitches they were looking for,” Sox catcher Seby Zavala said. “A couple balls down the middle and they didn’t miss today. They didn’t miss much this week.
“Good teams don’t miss their chance. They didn’t miss and we didn’t pitch great, but we’ll get back on the horse.”
The 13 homers allowed by the Sox are the most for the team in a three-game span since July 31-Aug. 2, 2007, when they gave up 15 against the Yankees in New York.
“Every mistake we made they squared it up,” Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “I don’t know if that’s who they are or if they came in hot, I’m not sure. We’ll find out. For the most part in these three games, every mistake we made they made pretty contact on it.”
The Sox have allowed 15 home runs, a franchise record through the first seven games of a season.
“Not a good series,” Zavala said. “Have to find a way to wash this away and move on to the next. We have to play (Friday in Pittsburgh), and just because we have one bad game, one bad series doesn’t mean we’re done.”
Lynn gave up three homers Thursday, two with two outs. Blake Sabol’s two-out solo homer in the second, the first of his career, gave the Giants a 4-0 lead. Lynn exited after giving up a two-run homer to Mike Yastrzemski with one out in the fifth.
Lynn allowed eight runs on nine hits with five strikeouts and three walks in 4⅓ innings.
“I wasn’t good,” Lynn said. “There’s no way to sugarcoat it. Just one of those things. I just didn’t make the pitches, and they made me pay for it.”
Lynn allowed at least eight runs in a start for the fifth time in his career and for the first time since July 11 of last season against the Cleveland Guardians.
The three homers are the most he allowed in a game since giving up three on July 29, 2022, against the Oakland Athletics.
“He battled and gave us everything he had,” Grifol said. “That’s really all I can say. He’s a warrior out there. He left a couple pitches up early, and obviously they really put good swings on them.”
Wilmer Flores hit a two-run homer against Sox reliever José Ruiz in the sixth. Ruiz allowed two home runs on Monday, including a grand slam.
J.D. Davis hit a grand slam Thursday against Sox position player Hanser Alberto in the ninth inning. It was Alberto’s second time pitching in the series.
“You’ve always got to find ways to get through games like this so you don’t compromise tomorrow and the next day,” Grifol said. “Every game is important, but this is one game. We’ve just go to make sure we’re in a good place to win tomorrow’s game and the next day after that.”
