White Sox beat A's to snap losing streak at 21 games, 1 shy of sole possession of American League record

The Chicago White Sox are historically bad. But they stopped short of further infamy on Tuesday, thanks to a 5-1 win over the Oakland A's.

The win snapped a 21-game losing streak that tied the 1988 Baltimore Orioles for the longest in American League history.

The loss ensures that the White Sox won't claim the record for their own. It also ensures that they won't match or surpass the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies, who hold the modern-day MLB record with a 23-game losing streak. Or, at least, the Sox won't match the Phillies with this losing streak. They have 46 games remaining this season to start a new one.

For now, this chapter of White Sox misery is complete. The win is the first for the White Sox since a 3-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins on July 10, and it's their first in 18 games since the All-Star break.

A's pitcher provides startling perspective on White Sox losing streak

Ross Stripling, the losing pitcher in the game for the A's, didn't want to be the person to allow the White Sox to break the streak, but he at least had some amusing perspective after the game, via the San Francisco Chronicle:

The attempted assassination of former president Donald Trump occurred on July 13, three days after Chicago's previous win.

Andrew Benintendi HR helps White Sox to win column

Chicago got on the board first Tuesday with a two-run Andrew Benintendi home run in the fourth inning. That was all the team would need.

The White Sox added three more insurance runs as Chicago's pitching limited the A's to a single run the rest of the game.

Along with Benintendi, starting pitcher Jonathan Cannon was the White Sox hero Tuesday. He pitched six innings, allowing one earned run on six hits while walking two and striking out five. The only damage came via a solo home run by Zack Gelof.

Relievers Dominic Leone, Chad Kuhl and John Brebbia contributed one shutout inning each to secure the Chicago victory. The White Sox and A's have one game remaining in their three-game series.

Can White Sox fend off further ignominy?

Chicago's losing streak entailed being on the wrong end of six series sweeps. Four of those series were against teams in position to make the postseason (Twins, Mariners, two against the Royals). A series against the last-place A's, who boast the second-worst record in the AL behind the White Sox, turned out to be just what Chicago needed to end the streak.

The White Sox are still on pace to record one of the worst seasons in baseball history. A previous 14-game losing streak that concluded in June helped ensure that. With Tuesday's win, the White Sox improved to 28-88 (.241).

That leaves them 41 games out of first place in the AL Central and 26.5 games behind the next-worst team in the division, the Detroit Tigers. Their minus-241 run differential is 70 runs worse than the next-worst team in baseball, a 42-72 (.368) Colorado Rockies team that boasts a minus-177 run differential.

The 1916 Philadelphia Athletics (36-117, .235) are the worst team in terms of win percentage in MLB's modern era. The expansion 1962 New York Mets, who played eight more games than the 1916 Athletics, hold the record for most single-season losses in the modern era, with a 40-120-1 (.248) finish. Both of those records are very much in striking distance for the White Sox.