3 errors and 2 ejections lead to 1 ‘funky’ Chicago White Sox loss, a 9-3 defeat to the Los Angeles Angels: ‘They’re men, not machines’

Tim Anderson bobbled Luis Rengifo’s grounder in the fourth inning Thursday, but the Chicago White Sox shortstop quickly recovered and looked to get a force at second.

Only second baseman César Hernández wasn’t near the bag.

Anderson adjusted and made a throw to first, which Rengifo beat.

Instead of a double play or at least one out, the Los Angeles Angels had the bases loaded and no outs. The next batter, Jack Mayfield, cleared the bases with a double down the left-field line on an 0-2 pitch. Jose Rojas followed with a two-run home run.

It was that type of day for the Sox, who lost to the Angels 9-3 in front of 27,098 at Guaranteed Rate Field.

The Sox dropped two of three in the series and didn’t look particularly sharp in the process, committing three errors Thursday. Their magic number for clinching the American League Central remains at seven.

“They’re men, not machines, and once in a while you get in a little funk,” Sox manager Tony La Russa said. “That’s what momentum’s about. You get in a good thing and it’s a good aura, a good vibe. You get into a funk and stuff gets worse.

“We were funky.”

La Russa and pitcher Mike Wright Jr. were ejected in the ninth inning. Two of Wright’s four pitches to Shohei Ohtani were inside, the final one hitting him in the leg. The umpires gathered and tossed Wright. La Russa had a discussion with the umpires and also was ejected.

“It was not intentional,” La Russa said. “The reasoning did not make sense. He felt that there was stuff flying on that first game.”

Yoán Moncada, Luis Robert and José Abreu were hit by pitches in Tuesday’s series opener.

“It was all us getting hit,” La Russa said. “And he noticed all that but they didn’t do anything. … We pitched Ohtani tough all series. He got a couple soft hits against us. But (the umpire) ruled that that was intentional, and he made a mistake. It wasn’t consistent with his umpiring judgment throughout the series.

“And I’m not going to belabor this. It wasn’t intentional. He read it wrong, and it wasn’t consistent with the way that, No. 1, they treated the three hit batsmen, and secondly, where was our retaliation? First the game yesterday, and today he made a mistake. It’s upsetting. It looks bad for our pitcher, our team, me. It disappoints me.”

The ejections occurred when the Angels were well on their way to a victory.

Reynaldo López, who has been effective as a starter and reliever since returning to the Sox from Triple-A Charlotte, allowed seven runs (six earned) on seven hits with seven strikeouts and a walk in four innings.

“I had command of my fastball, curveball and changeup, but the slider wasn’t working,” López said through an interpreter. “It also happened a few things I couldn’t control during the game. I also made two mistakes and I paid for those.

“I had a bad day. Everybody is going to have a bad day.”

He surrendered two two-run home runs. The first, by Rengifo, gave the Angels a 2-0 lead in the second. The homer by Rojas capped a five-run fourth. The Angels added two more in the fifth against reliever Jace Fry to build a 9-0 lead.

The Sox had nine hits but went 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

Abreu aided the offense with two RBIs. He also switched from designated hitter to third base when infielder Romy González was called on to pitch after Wright’s ejection. Naturally a first baseman, Abreu played third for the first time in his major-league career.

“Is there any doubt that he would do whatever?” La Russa said. “If they were all like him, all our jobs would be easier — what you do, what I do, the fans. He’s very special.”

González struck out Max Stassi, the only batter he faced.

“That was pretty cool to get out there, especially to get a strikeout,” González said. “That was a nice experience.”

It was a light moment in an otherwise forgettable afternoon for the Sox, who have lost three of their last four series. They begin a 10-day, 11-game three-city trip Friday against the Texas Rangers.

“It just wasn’t our best game of the year, that’s for sure,” La Russa said. “But hitting, by the time you think you’re hot, the next day you’re not. Just stay after it, turn a page, get ready for tomorrow.”

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