White Sox respond after bench coach's call to action

HOUSTON -- Doug Sisson didn’t want to flush Saturday’s poor effort by the White Sox, even if it was a performance befitting of such action.

Instead, Chicago's fiery and intense co-bench coach issued a challenge of sorts to the White Sox prior to their 2-0 loss to the Astros on Sunday afternoon at Minute Maid Park. That challenge first came during Saturday’s setback when things were going awry.

"Things were addressed during the game, but we didn’t play good baseball last night. Not at all,” Sisson said. “And we have to fix that. I don’t believe in the ‘flush it’ thing. You use that as a competitive edge. We have something to prove today. Games are lost more than they’re won."

Mission accomplished for Sisson and the White Sox charges.

They may have fallen to 1-24-1 in their last 26 series and dipped to 30-95 overall via their 14th shutout, but the White Sox still played a strong game against the American League West leaders. Framber Valdez (13-5) and the Astros (67-56) simply were a little bit better than rookie starter Ky Bush (0-2) and the visitors.

"I can live with that one. Guys played hard,” said interim manager Grady Sizemore after the team slipped to 2-6 under his guidance. “It was a great game all around."

"We played a pretty fundamentally sound game,” right fielder Dominic Fletcher said. “Didn’t swing it much, but that guy did a good job. Sometimes you’ve got to tip your cap."

Sisson is no stranger to the organization, having entered his seventh campaign as Minor League field coordinator in ‘24. He was also with the White Sox big league squad approximately one week per month before the full-time move to Sizemore’s staff on Aug. 8, when manager Pedro Grifol and three of his coaches were dismissed.

His upbeat demeanor is contagious. And as he exhibited on Sunday, Sisson expects the best -- even in the worst of times baseball-wise.

"The record is irrelevant. It’s a day-by-day thing,” Sisson said. “If you’re a competitor worth your salt, take great pride in playing smart, clean baseball every day, it's not negotiable. There’s no guarantee it’s going to happen every day. You have to take it personal.”

"We’ve been playing good, but you gotta play sharp,” Sizemore said. “You can’t give away outs. You gotta protect the ball. You gotta stay focused for nine. You have to play clean baseball, or we are not going to have a chance to win.”

Their Sunday refocus became evident in the first inning after Bush allowed singles to Jose Altuve and Jeremy Pe?a, putting runners on first and second with nobody out. Yainer Diaz launched an 0-1 pitch to right-center, targeted for a home run and three-run lead, but Fletcher jumped, extending his glove over the fence to make a spectacular catch.

Jake Meyers grounded into a double play to end the scoreless inning, with Bush pointing to Fletcher as he came off the mound.

"A high fly ball,” said Fletcher of the play. “I turned to my right and I had to spin around and then had time to gather and get a good jump on it."

"That was unreal. I thanked him about 20 times,” said Bush, who struck out five and walked three over six innings in his third Major League start. “That was an unreal play. It definitely changed the whole outing."

Diaz got even in the sixth with a leadoff home run off Bush, the game’s lone run until Altuve homered off John Brebbia in the eighth.

Saturday’s loss officially dropped the White Sox from postseason contention, marking the earliest calendar date a team has been eliminated from the playoff race in the Divisional Era (since 1969), per MLB Network Gameday notes. There was realistically little anticipation about October baseball since this team opened the campaign at 3-22 -- and maybe before that point -- but under Sizemore, they had played a crisper brand of baseball with more energy.

So, even with Saturday’s struggles, which were exemplified by a handful of specific moments gone wrong in Sisson’s mind, there was a prevailing attitude of not letting it happen again.

One, as seen above, was an errant throw by Andrew Benintendi in left field on single. Another, seen below, was the inability to get an out on the basepaths after Chris Flexen picked off Pe?a at first base on a steal attempt.

"Everybody was pissed off. Nobody was happy with that, and you shouldn’t be,” Sisson said. “The goal is to play clean baseball, the way it’s supposed to be played. The key when things start to fall apart, you can’t let anything break you.

"You’re allowed to get pissed off. If you have a bad fourth inning, get back on track and play the game the way it’s supposed to be played."