Lance Lynn allowed three runs in the first inning, then gave up two more in the third.
It was no way to get the scuffling White Sox untracked Tuesday.
“I’ve got to be better,” said Lynn, who fell to 0-2 with a 7.59 ERA in four starts in the Phillies’ 7-4 win in Game 1 of a doubleheader at Guaranteed Rate Field. “I’m not in a good rhythm, I’m not throwing the ball well, and I’m not having productive outings.”
Losing for the fifth time in the last six games, the Sox got to within a run with a four-run third by stringing six straight hits against Zack Wheeler, but former Sox infielder Josh Harrison’s two-run homer against Jimmy Lambert in the seventh was the dagger.
Harrison, the No. 9 hitter in the Phillies lineup, had a two-run single in the third and finished with four RBI.
The Sox (6-11) sent Lucas Giolito against Bailey Falter in Game 2, hoping for a split and needing to win for their first chance at winning a series this season. Jake Burger’s three-run homer, his fourth long ball in five games, put the Sox in front 3-0 in the first.
Luis Robert’s two-run double and Andrew Vaughn’s two-run single were the run-scoring blows for the Sox in Game 1.
But the Sox had two baserunners after the fourth against Wheeler and the Phillies bullpen. Lambert pitched out of a jam in the sixth in relief of Lynn to keep the Sox within one run, and after retiring the first two batters in the seventh, allowed a single to Jake Cave and a 399-foot homer to Harrison.
The Sox entered Game 2 is something of a must win, if there is such a thing as that in April.
“Everybody’s fine [in the clubhouse],” Lynn said. “You know it’s April, but you know you’ve got to get it moving just to make sure you don’t get too far behind.”
Sox manager Pedro Grifol was asked before the game if he’s hearing frustration from the fans, who endured a disappointing 81-81 season under Tony La Russa in 2022 and are watching a bad start in 2023.
“My experience on White Sox fans, I heard it from the other side [as a coach with the Kansas City Royals], passionate fans that know the game and when they scream something, they are making sense when they scream and what they are screaming,” Grifol said before the game. “I appreciate that.
“They have the right do to that. They pay money to come in here and watch baseball and it’s our job to provide good baseball. That’s what we are trying to do. That’s what we are working to do. I appreciate the fans here. I appreciate their knowledge of the game and I appreciate their passion for the Chicago White Sox.”
