121 for the books: White Sox set the modern MLB record for most losses in a season

DETROIT — No team in Major League Baseball’s modern era has lost more games in a season than the 2024 Chicago White Sox.

The Sox reached the pinnacle of baseball infamy with record-breaking loss No. 121 on Friday, falling 4-1 to the Detroit Tigers in front of a sellout crowd of 44,435 at Comerica Park.

The Sox surpassed the 1962 New York Mets, who went 40-120 in their expansion season. The Sox are 39-121 with two games remaining.

The Sox saw their three-game winning streak come to an end, while the Tigers clinched a postseason berth with the victory.

The Sox received a tough break in the first inning.

Zach DeLoach made it to third with one out after ripping the ball down the right-field line. But after a discussion, umpires ruled fan interference and moved DeLoach back to second. DeLoach advanced to third on a groundout, and he was stranded when Andrew Vaughn popped out to shortstop Trey Sweeney.

Sox starter Garrett Crochet, making his final start of an All-Star season in which he made the move from the bullpen to the rotation, allowed three hits, struck out six and walked one in four scoreless innings.

He ran into trouble in the fourth when the Tigers loaded the bases with two outs. After a discussion with interim manager Grady Sizemore, he remained in the game and got Sweeney to ground out to shortstop Nicky Lopez.

The Tigers loaded the bases again in the fifth against reliever Jared Shuster. This time, they broke through.

Jake Rogers scored on a wild pitch and Matt Vierling brought home another run on a sacrifice fly to left.

DeLoach cut the deficit in half with a homer to right, the first of his major league career, in the sixth. But the Tigers responded with two runs in the seventh as the Sox extended a franchise record with their 63rd road loss of the season.

Home or away hasn’t mattered for the Sox, who now they have a place — alone — in the record book.