White Sox off to franchise-worst start after 11-4 loss to Reds

White Sox fans booed after center fielder Dominic Fletcher’s bad defensive play led to a run. The game was already in the Reds’ favor, but after the Sox talked in the offseason about upgrading their defense, the fans voiced their frustration.

Add in the Reds’ six stolen bases — the most the White Sox allowed in a game since 2017 — and you have another ugly loss. The Sox’ 11-4 defeat dropped their record to 2-13, the worst start in franchise history.

‘‘Walks killed us; [being] behind in the count also killed us,’’ manager Pedro Grifol said. ‘‘That happened [Saturday], as well. In total, we had eight walks. It’s hard to win baseball games like that. On the defensive side, we made a couple of miscues that are really unacceptable.’’

Outfielder Robbie Grossman dropped a ball in right field in the seventh inning, putting runners on second and third. The Reds, one of the best teams in the majors at driving in runners in scoring position, took advantage with a four-run inning.

The margins are thin for a Sox team battling injuries to key players.

‘‘There’s a lot of talent on this team,’’ starter Michael Soroka said. ‘‘There’s a lot of guys who know how to play this game hard. Most of us in a rut are trying too hard to get to the other side of it. It’s a tough game that way. It’s not a game that you can outhustle someone in the game, on the mound or in the box. You kind of have to find that happy zone of being relaxed and letting your stuff play.’’

Soroka allowed five runs, struck out four and walked six in 4⅔ innings. He said he tried to be ‘‘perfect’’ with his fastball early, which came back to hurt him, and needs to trust his stuff more.

Soroka said the Sox also need to trust that they can turn things around.

‘‘When you make too much of an emphasis on outworking and fighting everybody on the baseball field, everybody feels like they need to be the guy to step up,’’ Soroka said. ‘‘It just comes down to wanting it but not trying too hard.’’

Second baseman Nicky Lopez played for the 104-victory Braves last season. He saw how a championship-level organization operates and how it remains levelheaded.

But losses are magnified early, particularly for a team that’s coming off a season in which it tied for the third-most losses in franchise history (61-101).

‘‘It sucks,’’ Lopez said of the Sox’ start. ‘‘No one wants to struggle. You can use the term, ‘It’s early,’ but it’s our livelihoods, our careers, and no one likes to struggle.’’

The poor start is weighing on the Sox. To change things up, they held batting practice at 10:15 a.m., which normally doesn’t happen for a 1:10 p.m. game.

‘‘What’s going on here is we need to relax, play baseball and enjoy this game, as opposed to putting everything on our shoulders as individuals and thinking that we’re the ones that are going to fix this,’’ Grifol said. ‘‘We fix this as a team.’’

Grifol said the Sox are doing the right things, but the losses likely will continue until the execution matches the talk.