Luis Robert Jr. ran back to the center-field wall, jumped and made a remarkable catch to rob Matt Chapman of a home run in the fourth inning Monday at Rogers Centre.
Cavan Biggio made sure no Chicago White Sox outfielder would duplicate the feat in his at-bat later in the inning, lining a three-run homer to right.
The Sox went from leading to losing on Biggio’s homer and never recovered, falling 5-2 to the Toronto Blue Jays in front of 26,293.
The slide continues for the Sox, who lost their fifth straight. They have dropped seven of eight and 10 of 12.
“Everybody’s doing everything they can day in, day out to try to get better,” Sox starter Lance Lynn said. “Doing everything we can to prepare. Hopefully we keep doing that and things will turn our way.”
The offensive struggles continue as the Sox were held to three hits for the second straight game.
“Pitchers are good,” first baseman Andrew Vaughn said. “They can move the ball real effectively in the big leagues, and we have to stay within ourselves. Know the strike zone and stay within.”
Two of the three hits came in the third, a single by Andrew Benintendi and a two-run double by Vaughn. The Sox have scored in just 12 of 71 offensive innings in their last eight games.
“We got guys on base that (third) inning and Vaughn came through with a big double,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “Got to get guys on. We’ve got to grind out at-bats. We’ve got to take our walks when they’re available.
“We can’t chase out of the zone. The keys to big innings are not chasing and taking what they’re giving you. If it’s a walk, it’s a walk. Walks are good. We’ve just got to shrink that strike zone. We’ve got to work on being really selective and getting good pitches to hit.”
The Sox are nine games under .500 (7-16), matching a hole they found themselves in to start 2018.
Lynn allowed four runs on five hits with four strikeouts and three walks in five innings. All four runs came with two outs in the fourth.
He pointed to walking Alejandro Kirk with two outs as the big moment.
“Two-out walk, pretty much it, gave up four because of it,” he said. “(Two-out walks will) haunt you bad.”
The Kirk walk came just after Robert’s catch. Brandon Belt singled and Whit Merrifield drove in a run with a double to cut the Sox lead to 2-1.
Biggio followed with the three-run homer.
“(Lynn) was sharp for three,” Grifol said. “He got those two quick outs (in the fourth). Two-out walks, they tend to hurt.”
The Sox offense couldn’t string together multiple extended rallies.
The last 17 Sox batters were retired in Sunday’s 4-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. The team’s final hit Monday came in the fifth, a single by Benintendi.
They had three more baserunners the rest of the game. Jake Burger got hit by a pitch in the sixth, Lenyn Sosa reached on an error in the seventh and Eloy Jiménez drew a walk in the eighth.
Blue Jays starter Chris Bassitt allowed two runs on three hits with four strikeouts and three walks in 6⅓ innings before exiting with right lower back tightness.
“He was mixing pitches, changing speeds,” Vaughn said. “His curveball he was locating really well. Had some sinkers he missed over the plate, but next at-bat he was dotting.”
As for the Sox, they continue to try to pinpoint ways to turn it around.
“Baseball is tough no matter what,” Vaughn said. “The greatest thing about this game is we get to come back tomorrow and play again.”
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