White Sox' offense nonexistent in 5-0 loss to Reds

After White Sox outfielder Kevin Pillar was picked off at first base in the ninth inning Saturday, some fans among the announced attendance of 22,598 at Guaranteed Rate Field chanted, ‘‘Sell the team!’’

It was yet another poor outing for the Sox, who lost 5-0 to the Reds.

At 2-12, the Sox matched the 1968 team for the worst start in franchise history through 14 games. They have been shut out five times, three of their best hitters — third baseman Yoan Moncada, designated hitter Eloy Jimenez and center fielder Luis Robert Jr. — are battling injuries and they are last in the majors in runs scored with 30.

Left-hander Garrett Crochet, who has been their best starter to date, had his first subpar outing. He said he wanted to go five innings, but his pitch count got too high (92 pitches). He battled after yielding five runs in the second, giving the Sox 4‰ innings and a career-high 10 strikeouts, but the offense struggled to get on base.

‘‘The injuries are tough,’’ Crochet said. ‘‘We’re all thinking of those [injured] guys and can’t wait until we get them back. That’s baseball. Everybody goes through that at some point or another. We’ve gone through it every year since I’ve been here, but that’s the name of the game. And for us right now . . . just a tough skid.”

Crochet said that his command was off in the first two innings and that he was searching for something. That led to him not being consistently in the strike zone.

Offensively, the Sox managed one hit, one walk and two hit batsmen while striking out 10 times in 5‰ innings against Reds left-hander Nick Lodolo, who took a no-hitter into the sixth in his season debut.

‘‘Those are the guys you have to beat if you want to do anything,’’ manager Pedro Grifol said. ‘‘He was good, don’t get me wrong. It’s a tough angle, and it’s a good slider and a good fastball. He was pounding the strike zone. Just couldn’t get anything going.’’

The Sox have managed one run and six hits in the first two games of the series against the Reds. Their lack of offense makes deficits difficult to overcome, no matter how well the pitching performs.

Overall, the Sox struck out 15 times and had a couple of hits taken away by the Reds’ stellar outfield defense.

‘‘He threw the ball well,’’ designated hitter Gavin Sheets said of Lodolo. ‘‘Every at-bat, he showed us something different. Credit to him. They [also] made really good defensive plays, unfortunately.’’

There likely aren’t any reinforcements coming from Triple-A Charlotte, so this probably will be the Sox’ group of hitters for the foreseeable future. They’ll need them to heat up soon.

‘‘Pillar got a hit-by-pitch, a walk [and] a base hit; he had good at-bats all day long,’’ Grifol said. ‘‘Other than that, we couldn’t muster anything.’’

Grifol said the Sox can’t wallow in their losses. An already-poor start can nosedive even more if they don’t find a way to turn things around.

‘‘You’ve got to flush these things,’’ Grifol said. ‘‘There’s nothing you can do, other than get a nice rest and get back after it tomorrow. Try to save the series and get ready for Kansas City [on Monday].’’