The Chicago White Sox had one hit — a single by Jake Burger — against talented Los Angeles Dodgers starter Tony Gonsolin heading to the bottom of the fifth Wednesday.
They were down three runs when the offense appeared to be gaining momentum.
Burger led off with a homer to left. Gavin Sheets doubled and AJ Pollock walked.
But the promising inning fizzled and the Sox were held in check the rest of the way, falling 4-1 in front of 25,078 at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Gonsolin got Danny Mendick to hit a grounder to shortstop Trea Turner, which turned into a force at second. Leury García struck out and Luis Robert flied out to center to end the team’s most serious threat.
“It wasn’t the best night,” García said. “But we have to just keep working and try to get better. We know we can get better.”
The Sox were limited to four hits, two by Burger. Gonsolin (7-0) allowed one run on three hits with five strikeouts and a walk in six innings.
“I give credit where credit is due: The pitcher has a (1.58) ERA and he’s undefeated,” Sox manager Tony La Russa said. “So evidently it wasn’t a piece of cake. But we did have two real good chances to add a run in the fourth and the (fifth).
“We didn’t get them over, didn’t get them in. So when a guy is pitching that well, every chance you get, you’ve got to mark and we didn’t.”
The first four hitters in the Sox lineup — García, Luis Robert, Yoán Moncada and José Abreu — went a combined 0-for-15 with a hit-by-pitch for Robert in the fourth.
“I feel like (bleep) at the plate,” said García, who struck out three times. “But I give it all I got. That’s all I got. I give it 100% and struck out three times. Nobody wants three strikeouts. But I just have to keep working and all the situations, they’re going to change.”
Robert stole second in the fourth and advanced on a flyout to third, where he was stranded. The Sox left two more runners on in the fifth.
Asked if he’s considering drastic changes to the lineup, La Russa said: “I consider everything. I also consider we won three in a row (entering Wednesday), so I’m not dumping a club just because they got beat one game where a guy with a 1.00 ERA shuts us down.”
The Dodgers struck early against Sox starter Johnny Cueto (0-3).
Turner singled with two outs in the first and Will Smith followed with a home run to left.
Cody Bellinger led off the second with a homer to right, giving the Dodgers a 3-0 lead.
“It was just a pitch that I hung in the middle of the strike zone and he took advantage of it,” Cueto said through an interpreter of Bellinger’s homer. “But after that, I got better.
“It was just a mistake, that pitch, and after that I focused on trying to (locate) my pitches down in the zone.”
Cueto retired 15 of the final 17 batters he faced, allowing only a walk in the fifth and a single in the sixth. He exited after six innings, allowing the three runs on four hits with five strikeouts and one walk.
“He’s buzzard luck as far as we haven’t been scoring a lot, but we don’t score at all for him,” La Russa said. “But he’s a pro. He keeps going out there and keeping us close. … He’s very impressive.”
The Sox have been held to three runs or fewer in four of Cueto’s five starts. The one time they surpassed the mark was in his Sox debut May 16 in Kansas City, where Robert hit a two-run homer in the 10th for a 5-3 victory.
“My focus is just to do my best every time I’m on the mound,” Cueto said. “I can’t focus on what happens around me. I just do my job and focus on that.”
The solid pitching continued for the Sox, but so did the offensive inconsistencies.
“Our offense got shut down and there were some at-bats that were not fun to take,” La Russa said. “I know the guys aren’t happy with them. To me, when a guy is pitching well against you and you have a couple of situations, you at least get a mark. You’ve got to mark.
“If it turns out to be a crooked number, that’s good too. But we didn’t do it.”
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