CHICAGO -- Comments from White Sox manager Pedro Grifol following a 4-1 loss to the Orioles on Sunday at Guaranteed Rate Field were not very extensive.

Try a 1-minute, 12-second media session to be exact, with six brief questions following his opening statement. It was a powerful opening statement strongly voicing displeasure in his struggling White Sox (15-39), who suffered their fifth straight loss and eighth series sweep of the 2024 season.

¡°I don¡¯t have much,¡± a terse Grifol said. ¡°[Garrett] Crochet pitched his [butt] off. We got no-hit through [seven innings]. We had a pinch-hitter break it up.

¡°The rest of the guys ¡­ Not the rest of the guys. Most of the guys were ¡­ flat today. Unacceptable. That¡¯s all I got.¡±

Yes, Crochet (5-5) pitched his butt off, matching a career high with 11 strikeouts and extending his scoreless-innings streak to 24 before Adley Rutschman connected for a two-run homer in the sixth. But Baltimore starter Kyle Bradish was a little bit better, no-hitting the White Sox for seven innings and striking out 11 before exiting at 103 pitches.

In the angry postgame moment, Grifol was more focused on his team¡¯s flat aspect and how it manifested across the offense.

¡°Flat. Period. Major League game. Gotta respect it. Pretty simple,¡± Grifol said. ¡°With the at-bats? No adjustments. We didn¡¯t make any adjustments to this guy.¡±

When pressed about avoiding this same situation Monday afternoon against the Blue Jays, Grifol added, ¡°Gotta come back ready to play.¡±

When asked how this sort of flat effort comes about, Grifold declined to comment.

There was a clubhouse talk between Grifol and the players after their third four-game series sweep this year. Crochet made a point of saying that talk was just for the guys.

Nobody was happy. But the players who spoke postgame didn¡¯t seem in 100 percent agreement with Grifol¡¯s take.

¡°I¡¯ll let him comment on his statement,¡± catcher Korey Lee said. ¡°He¡¯s going to feel that way, and obviously, we have a different feeling. He is entitled to his own opinion. I think that¡¯s a valid reason. There's nothing to hide about that. He has his opinions, and everyone is going to have their own opinions.¡±

¡°We're going against one of the best arms in the league. He's got incredible stuff so it's ¡­ I don't know,¡± Crochet said. ¡°We just played a stretch against some really good teams. I don't think it's necessarily fair to harp on the losses and beat ourselves up too much. We've just got to put together a full nine innings of good baseball.¡±

Crochet was quick to point out he had five great innings and then made a couple of mistakes in the sixth to illustrate the full nine innings concept.

¡°That was the game,¡± Crochet said.

¡°I actually work out with him in the offseason, so I know what he's capable of,¡± said Bradish of Crochet. ¡°I was just trying to go out there and match him. Luckily, we were able to get to him there I think in the sixth inning with that big swing from Adley. He's a great pitcher and a great guy too."

With the 11 strikeouts, Crochet took over the American League lead at 85 against just 14 walks over a career-high 63 2/3 innings this season. He retired the first 11 hitters he faced, and his scoreless-innings streak was the longest for the White Sox since reliever Matt Albers threw 33 1/3 consecutive from Aug. 5, 2015, to April 30, 2016, per Elias. It was the longest for a White Sox starter since Chris Sale had 28 from May 6 to June 2, 2013.

Yet, the southpaw¡¯s dominance was not really the focus. The White Sox have a 1-9 record so far in a stretch of 13 straight games against the American League East, and their play Sunday triggered something in Grifol, who is a manager usually standing staunchly behind his players and keeping most criticism private.

¡°At the end of the day, we¡¯ve all got to remember this is a big league jersey,¡± said infielder Danny Mendick, who had the team¡¯s lone hit with a pinch-hit homer leading off the eighth against Danny Coulombe. ¡°We¡¯re pretty fortunate that we get to wear it every single day.

¡°Struggles happen. We¡¯re just going to have to keep grinding, keep a positive mindset and then go out there and give it our all [and] see what happens.¡±