NEW YORK — Pedro Grifol endured a 10-game losing streak during his first month as a major-league manager.
That’s going to leave a mark.
“Obviously I did not enjoy that at all,” Grifol said before the White Sox extended their winning streak to a season-high four games against the Yankees on Tuesday. “I didn’t enjoy 7-21, whatever we started.”
Yes, it was 7-21.
“Did not enjoy that,” he said.
But the Sox (27-35), after a 3-2 win behind six innings of no-hit ball from right-hander Lucas Giolito, two home runs from catcher Seby Zavala and Liam Hendriks’ first save, have won 20 of their last 34 games and five of their last six. They trail the first-place Twins by 4½ games in the weak American League Central. It feels like they’re climbing, slowly and perhaps surely.
“You know what I’m enjoying? I’m enjoying the climb,” Grifol said. “I’m enjoying getting better and playing better.”
The Sox are far from a finished product. They must be more selective at the plate, Grifol said, and go for the jugular on the mound.
“If we swing at good pitches, we’re going to do some damage,” he said. “So we have to get better at not chasing. We’ve got to find a way.”
Zavala didn’t chase when he lofted a solo homer near the 314-foot sign at the right-field pole in the first against Yankees righty Clarke Schmidt. He homered again in the fifth, a two-run shot that traveled 435 feet.
Pitchers still need to be better when they get ahead in counts, Grifol said.
“You almost can’t allow slugging in [0-2 and 1-2] counts,” Grifol said. “You fight to get to 0-2, 1-2, you’ve got to put guys away. But we’re better at it. And the amount of quality starts we’ve had in the past six weeks has been really, really nice.”
Giolito’s was the latest. He struck out seven and walked three but with his pitch count at 100, was pulled after six innings. His ERA is 3.75.
“Too many balls,” said Giolito, who threw 58 strikes. “My stuff felt really good and I was getting ahead of a lot of guys but I played into their patient approach.”
And as Grifol said, the bullpen is “shaping up.” Kendall Graveman’s eighth inning against the top of the Yankees’ lineup was his 14th in a row without allowing a run. And Hendriks, after getting the win in relief Sunday, pitched the ninth for his first save — despite giving up a homer to Josh Donaldson on the first pitch — since coming back from cancer.
“It almost helps me when the stadium gets that loud,” said Hendriks, who appeared in his third game in four days. “Helps me lock in a little more.”
Defensively, “we’ve got to get better at preventing 90 feet, free bases at 90 feet,” Grifol said. “Stolen bases, we’ve got to get better at holding, eliminating attempts. There’s a hell of a lot of things we’ve got to get better.’’
Center fielder Luis Robert Jr., who usually catches everything, gave away 180 feet, the Yankees’ first hit and first run when he miscommunicated with left fielder Andrew Ben-
intendi letting Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s two-out fly fall near his feet with Joe Kelly pitching. It scored Willie Calhoun (two-out walk) from first to make it 3-1.
Fans and media have pinned the Sox’ woes on ownership and the front office way more than Grifol. His job is not in jeopardy but he also knows managers are hired to be fired.
“Have I thought about it? I think that’s only human, right?” he said. “But I don’t think about it like, ‘oh, I might go to the ballpark and get fired tomorrow.’ The thought that goes through your mind is like, ‘damn, how long am I going to be allowed to do this?’ I just started to do this, and I love what I do.”
