WHITE SOX RALLY WITH 3 HRS, WALK OFF METS ON 4TH HR

 

Aug 21, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago White Sox pitcher Sean Burke (59) delivers the ball during the first inning against the New York Mets at Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images

Jake Rogers belted a two-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth and Miguel Vargas, Randal Grichuk and Colson Montgomery hit three straight homers in the sixth as the host Chicago White Sox defeated the New York Mets 6-4 on Friday.

Rogers reached Jefry Yan (1-1) with two outs and a runner on third. Grant Taylor (5-2) worked around a leadoff walk in the top of the ninth to earn the victory.

American League Central-leading Chicago trailed 4-0 before a sixth-inning barrage against Mets left-hander Sean Manaea.

Manaea stymied the White Sox through five innings before scuffling during his third time through the order. He issued a one-out walk in the sixth before allowing three straight homers, the first a two-run blast by Vargas. The veteran left-hander spaced four runs and five hits in six innings with two walks and four strikeouts.

Chicago counterpart Sean Burke also took a no-decision while remaining in search of his first victory since July 19. The righty yielded four runs and seven hits in six innings with zero walks and four strikeouts.

Burke has surrendered a home run in each of his four August starts.

Small ball proved his adversary when the Mets opened the scoring in the second. New York collected three base hits in the inning, with the last an RBI single from Marcus Semien.

Brett Baty lined a two-run double to right in the fourth to make it 3-0, while Bo Bichette hit a solo shot to left with two outs in the fifth.

Baty had two hits and two RBIs and Semien added two hits.

Vargas and Grichuk had two hits apiece for Chicago. The White Sox relief corps allowed one hit in three scoreless innings.

Mets left fielder Luis Robert Jr. went 1-for-3 with a double in his return to Rate Field. Robert played his first six seasons with the White Sox before joining New York in a Jan. 20 trade that included Luisangel Acuna, who went 0-for-4 as Chicago's shortstop.

--Field Level Media

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GERALD CHANEY SINGS 'GOD BLESS AMERICA' AT WHITE SOX VS. RAYS GAME

 

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NATIONALS WIN MLB DRAFT LOTTERY, GET NO. 1 PICK FOR THIRD TIME

DALLAS -- The Washington Nationals will have the first pick in the 2025 MLB draft for the third time in franchise history after winning the draft lottery Tuesday at baseball's winter meetings.

Washington had the fourth-best odds (10.8%) to land the top pick. The Colorado Rockies and the Miami Marlins (22.5% each) were tied for the best chance, but the Marlins fell to seventh and the Rockies will select fourth.

The Los Angeles Angels will pick second after having the third-best odds for the first selection.

The Chicago White Sox, despite losing a modern-day-record 121 games, were not eligible for a lottery pick -- one of the top six selections -- because the collective bargaining agreement stipulates a team that pays into the revenue-sharing plan cannot hold a lottery pick in consecutive drafts. The White Sox chose fifth in the 2024 draft.

The Athletics were also ineligible because teams that receive revenue sharing cannot have a lottery pick three straight years.

The Nationals also drew the No. 1 pick at last year's draft lottery, but they weren't eligible for a lottery selection as a team that paid into the revenue-sharing plan and couldn't receive a lottery pick two years in a row, resulting in another drawing. The Cleveland Guardians won the No. 1 pick on the second drawing despite having just a 2% chance.

The pingpong balls went the Nationals' way again Tuesday, giving them a chance to replicate their previous success with No. 1 selections. In 2009, they chose right-hander Stephen Strasburg. A year later, they selected outfielder Bryce Harper. Both players were hyped as generational talents and quickly rose through the minors to serve as franchise cornerstones during the Nationals' ascension to NL East power in the 2010s.

Washington has not made the postseason since winning the 2019 World Series. The Nationals were third in the NL East in 2024 with a 71-91 record.

The draft lottery gives the 18 teams that do not reach the postseason an opportunity to land one of the first six selections. It was introduced in MLB's new collective bargaining agreement that went into effect in 2023. Picks from 7 to 18 are slotted by reverse winning percentage, followed by how teams finished in the postseason.

CHICAGO WHITE SOX LOSE 21ST STRAIGHT GAME, TIE AL RECORD

Chicago White Sox manager Pedro Grifol reacts [+]
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OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Chicago White Sox lost their 21st straight game, tying American League record with a 5-1 defeat to the Oakland Athletics on Monday night as Max Schuemann hit a tiebreaking, two-run single in the fourth inning.

Chicago is on the longest losing streak since the 1988 Baltimore Orioles lost 21 in a row. The NL record since 1900 is held by the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies, who lost 23 straight.

The major league low belongs to the 1889 Louisville Colonels, an American Association team that lost 26 consecutive games slide during a 27-111 season.

Chicago, which last won on July 10 in a doubleheader opener against Minnesota, dropped to 27-88 and is on pace to finish 38-124, which would be the most losses since the 1899 Cleveland Spiders of the National League went 20-134. The White Sox have been held to one run or none 32 times.

"We talk about it everyday, everybody knows what it is," Chicago manager Pedro Grifol said after the loss. "It's 21 in a row, it sucks, it's painful, it hurts, you name it. ... Like I said, it's not for lack of effort. Nobody wants to come out here and lose."

Measuring up against the rest of baseball, after the All-Star break, is even more dreary for the White Sox. Sixteen of the losses in the streak have come post-break, and according to ESPN Stats & Information research, every other team in the majors has at least four victories in that span.

"You just try to turn the page," outfielder Corey Julks said. "Look forward to the next day, bounce back, don't dwell on the loss, just try to learn from them and get better each day. ... We're just trying to rally as a team and find a way to get a win."

Former White Sox great Frank Thomas, a Hall of Fame first baseman, was on the team's postgame show on NBC Sports Chicago Monday, and said he would throw a postgame tantrum with reporters if he were managing this team.

"It's time to snap," Thomas said. "That's the only way through the players right now. Snap. I'm serious. I don't want to hear no more: `We're trying.′ No more: `They're working hard every day.′ No, it's time to snap. It's time to kick over the spread."

Thomas played for the White Sox from 1990 to 2005 as part of a 19-season career. Now 56, the two-time AL MVP hit 521 home runs, including 448 for Chicago. He was elected to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 2014.

"I'm not being nice. Kick the door. Slam the door! 'Get out of here! I'm tired of answering questions," Thomas suggested would be his reaction as manager. "'We've lost 21 in -- we're the laughing stock of baseball. You think I don't know that?'"

Tyler Nevin's first-inning sacrifice fly put the A's ahead, but Andrew Benintendi tied the score with an RBI single against JP Sears (9-8) in the fourth.

JJ Bleday doubled in the bottom half off Ky Bush (0-1), a 24-year-old left-hander making his big league debut, Zack Gelof walked and Darell Hernaiz was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. Schuemann grounded a single between shortstop and third that bounced into left for a 3-1 lead.

Lawrence Butler added a sixth-inning homer against Chad Kuhl, his 16th home run this season. Gelof added a run in the eighth when he sprinted home from first when Jared Shuster's pitch bounced away from catcher Korey Lee as Schuemann struck out. Lee looked toward Gelof at third and threw to first baseman Andrew Vaughn for the out, and Gelof ran home as Vaughn's throw skipped past Lee.

Sears allowed three hits in seven innings with five strikeouts and a walk, improving to 5-1 in his last six decisions.

"Our whole plan coming into this series was to continue our focus," A's manager Mark Kotsay said, whose club just dropped a weekend series to the Los Angeles Dodgers. "Focus on the details of the game, play the game the way we know we're capable of, and we did that tonight."

Austin Adams and Tyler Ferguson finished a four-hitter that took just 2 hours, 15 minutes.

"We bounced back today aggainst a team that has been struggling lately," Schuemann said in his postgame, on-field interview on NBC Sports California. "So, it was important to come out here and not take them lightly. That was a big key for us."

Bush allowed three runs, two hits and five walks over four innings with three strikeouts. He played college baseball at Saint Mary's College in Moraga.

On Tuesday, the White Sox will give it another shot with rookie right-hander Jonathan Cannon (1-5, 4.11 ERA) on the mound, opposed by Oakland righty Ross Stripling (2-10, 5.64).

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

- ESPN News Services

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