The Chicago White Sox didn’t win their 31st game of 2024 until Aug. 21 en route to setting the major league record for most losses in a season with 121.
But on Sunday afternoon, in the final game of a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies in Denver, they could reach that number.
Chicago has won the first two games against the Rockies, including 10-3 on Saturday, to notch their 10th series win of 2025 and can earn a sweep for the first time this season.
Meanwhile, the Rockies have lost 17 consecutive home series, dating to last season. According to OptaStats, that ties the record for the longest home-series losing streak in major league history. The Philadelphia Athletics did it spanning the 1916 and 1917 seasons.
The Rockies, at 20-69, are on pace to lose 126 games, which would erase the White Sox as holder of that dubious record after just one season. The Rockies and White Sox have the two worst records in baseball this season.
Trying to steer their teams to wins on Sunday will be rookie right-handers Shane Smith (3-6, 3.86 ERA) for the White Sox and Chase Dollander (2-9, 6.65) for the Rockies.
This will be the first time either pitcher has faced Sunday’s opponent in their short careers.
Smith is one of several rookies to play for Chicago this season. The White Sox have nine on the roster, and the latest addition is shortstop Colson Montgomery, who made his major league debut Friday night.
He made an acrobatic catch early and reached on a catcher’s interference in his first plate appearance, the first player to accomplish the latter in the expansion era (since 1961), according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
He got his first major league hit on an RBI triple on Saturday night and added two singles, making a strong debut after a tough start to 2025. He was batting .149 with Triple-A Charlotte when the organization pulled him from the team to work with the franchise’s director of hitting in Arizona, and he returned May 13 to hit .279 until his promotion.
“I do think there’s benefits to (early struggles),” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “The name of the game is being able to deal with adversity and come back and get back on track, and stay focused on what you need to do to be a good player.
“For him to be able to build that experience, and all those lessons he’s gone through, I think it’s going to put him in a better spot.”
Dollander has dealt with typical rookie struggles, too. He won his debut against the Athletics on April 6 and his second victory in his fifth start to close that month. He has six losses in his past nine starts, and his first start in July — 2 2/3 innings in a 6-5 defeat to the Houston Astros on Tuesday — was the shortest of his career.
The ups and downs are expected of a young pitcher, especially one who plays his home games at hitter-friendly Coors Field.
“I think it all comes back to his command. I think that he’s getting behind in counts, he’s then working extremely hard to get back into counts; he’s throwing a lot of pitches,” Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer said recently about Dollander. “I think that leads to going over the heart of the plate more often than he should, but all the confidence in the world in Chase Dollander moving forward and being able to make adjustments.”
Colorado is 9-36 with 15 series losses at Coors Field, which is the worst start at home for a team in the modern era (since 1901). The Rockies have been swept five times at home this year, including a four-game sweep against Philadelphia in May.
–Field Level Media
