TORONTO — The skids hit seven and 24, respectively, for the White Sox.
And now they’re just swerving out of control.
Where are the Sox (7-18) after striking out 17 times and losing 8-0 on Wednesday to the Blue Jays? They’ve lost seven consecutive games, six of them on a road trip against the Rays and Jays, two of the best teams in the American League.
The Sox haven’t scored in 24 innings and are getting worse by the hour. Eleven of their last 12 batters went down swinging or looking Wednesday.
‘‘We’re in a funk,’’ catcher Seby Zavala said, stating the obvious. ‘‘And we have to come together as a team and figure out how to get out of it because this isn’t fun.’’
The loss was the Sox’ 12th in their last 14 games, and their 7-18 start is their worst since 1986.
They left Toronto for home having managed only 11 hits in the series — three in the first game and four in each of the last two — all but one of them a single.
And guess who’s waiting for them in Chicago? The major-league-best Rays for Round 2.
‘‘There’s no other way to say it: We have to find a way to start winning, and we can’t curl up in a ball,’’ said Zavala, who struck out twice and walked. ‘‘If you curl up in a ball, then you leave our locker room. I don’t think we have any of those guys. But if anybody does feel that way, it’s going to definitely bring us down.’’
Right-hander Michael Kopech (0-3, 7.01 ERA) was down after allowing four runs, six hits and two walks in five innings. He was cruising through 2‰ innings, but a two-out single by Santiago Espinal started a three-run rally in the third. An RBI single by Bo Bichette and a two-run double by Vladimir Guerrero Jr gave the Jays a 3-0 lead.
‘‘Those [expletives], they just foul off a lot of [expletive], and it puts us in a hole,’’ a frustrated Zavala said. ‘‘And maybe it makes us feel like we don’t know how to get them out or something. I don’t really know.’’
Bichette homered against Jimmy Lambert in the seventh, and Whit Merrifield singled in two runs. Not that the Jays needed it against a team that hasn’t scored since Andrew Vaughn doubled home two runs in the third inning of the series opener Monday and got shut out in consecutive games for the first time since 2017.
The Sox set another futile offensive tone when left-hander Yusei Kikuchi struck out Elvis Andrus and Vaughn to start the game. Luis Robert Jr., who was in a 3-for-44 slump going in, then lined one off the right-field wall but was tagged out at second when he overslid the base.
Eloy Jimenez (.172 average) and Robert (.218) each struck out three times, once each in the ninth against Trevor Richards, who also fanned Vaughn.
‘‘It’s frustrating,’’ manager Pedro Grifol said. ‘‘It’s something we talked about [in hitter meetings] today. We’ve got to clean it up. We’ve got to be tougher outs.’’
NOTES: Shortstop Tim Anderson (sprained left knee) is expected to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Charlotte this weekend and might be reinstated from the injured list before the Sox begin a home series Tuesday against the Twins. Infielder Hanser Alberto is also ready to begin a rehab assignment at Charlotte.
• After leaving the Sox’ 7-0 loss Tuesday with a back spasm, catcher Yasmani Grandal was available off the bench, manager Pedro Grifol said.
