Costly walks come back to bite Martin

ANAHEIM -- Davis Martin is still building back up from Tommy John surgery.

Finishing strong is proving to be a challenge.

Martin allowed three runs in five innings while the offense went silent, sending the White Sox to a 5-0 loss to the Angels on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. The White Sox saw their three-game winning streak snapped as their record fell to 36-116, four losses away from tying the modern Major League record set by the 1962 New York Mets.

Martin, 27, missed all of last season after having Tommy John surgery on his right elbow. He returned to the White Sox on July 27 and posted a 2.96 ERA in his first six appearances (five starts).

Since then, he’s posted a 6.16 ERA in his last four outings.

“I think it's a unique experience because right now, I feel like we're about to hit the All-Star break, physically and mentally," he said. “So it's kind of frustrating knowing that we're kind of hitting our stride, but also kind of working some things out.”

Martin allowed the leadoff man to reach in four of five innings, and it came back to haunt him. The leadoff runner came around to score in the third, fourth and fifth innings, putting the White Sox in a hole.

Martin walked Charles LeBlanc to lead off the third inning. Three batters later, Taylor Ward singled through the left side to bring LeBlanc home and open the scoring.

Martin again walked the leadoff batter in the fourth, giving Nolan Schanuel a free pass. Eric Wagaman singled through the left side three batters later to score Schanuel and make it 2-0.

In the fifth, Martin allowed a leadoff single to Gustavo Campero. Three batters later, Schanuel drove him home with a two-out double into the right-field corner.

“I think the two leadoff walks are the only thing that's gonna just eat me up tonight,” Martin said. “I think that's really it. All the rest of the ABs, I feel like we did a good job of competing in the zone and attacking. But those two walks... really just drove me crazy.”

Martin finished on a high note, blowing an elevated 93.8 mph fastball past Niko Kavadas for a swinging strikeout, ending the fifth.

Overall, Martin allowed seven hits and three runs, walked two and struck out four. He fell to 0-5 on the year.

“I didn't think he had his best stuff," manager Grady Sizemore said. “I think some walks came around to hurt him. But overall, I thought he competed. Still thought he did a good job. I thought they had a good plan against this changeup. I thought they were getting good swings on that. They were ready for it.”

Enyel De Los Santos served up a home run to Eric Wagaman in the sixth and left-hander Jake Eder, the White Sox No. 22 prospect, making his Major League debut, surrendered a run in the seventh on a wild pitch.

The White Sox offense didn’t offer much help. After scoring a combined 19 runs in their previous three games, the South Siders were shut out for the 19th time this season. All six of their hits were singles.

“[Martin] went out and competed, kept us in the ballgame,” said Dominic Fletcher, who went 2-for-4. “That's on us as an offense to go out there and battle back and score some runs.”

The White Sox must win seven of their final 10 games to avoid tying the record for most losses in a season. That starts with an afternoon matinee against the Angels on Wednesday to close out the series.