White Sox manager Pedro Grifol didn’t back down. His players held their positions, too.
On Sunday, Grifol said his team was ‘‘[expletive] flat’’ in a 4-1 loss to the Orioles. Before the game Monday against the Blue Jays, he was asked to revisit his take after being told his players didn’t really think so.
‘‘I’m doubling-down on what I said yesterday,’’ Grifol said. ‘‘I thought we were flat. And that’s where I’m going to leave it. We have to make adjustments today, OK? And go out there and play the game as hard as we can.’’
The Sox fell to 15-40 with a 5-1 loss to the visiting Blue Jays before a Memorial Day crowd of 14,993. It’s a history-in-the-making won-lost mark subjecting Grifol to criticism, even though injuries to center fielder Luis Robert Jr., third baseman Yoan Moncada and designated hitter Eloy Jimenez have depleted his ranks. Those three made up the core of a lineup that wasn’t expected to push the Sox out of 100-loss territory even if healthy.
Grifol calling out players is a reversal of his normal tactics, though, especially when it comes to veteran players. This back-and-forth and questions about player/manager dynamics are testing the sturdiness of the Sox’ on-field operation.
Players say they’re unified, and Grifol said there is unity between his office and the players’ room.
‘‘This is a close clubhouse,’’ second baseman Nicky Lopez said before the Sox lost their sixth game in a row and 10th in their last 11.
‘‘They have their opinions; I have mine,’’ Grifol said. ‘‘[But] this is not divided by any means. This is not them against Pedro, Pedro against them; it’s just a situation. I thought we were flat; they didn’t think we were flat. It’s over.’’
After catcher Korey Lee and left-hander Garrett Crochet echoed the prevailing feeling in the room, however — that the Sox ran into a hot pitcher in Orioles right-hander Kyle Bradish, who tossed seven innings of no-hit ball at them — outfielder Gavin Sheets and Lopez suggested it wasn’t completely over by saying the same thing.
‘‘I thought we ran into a pretty good pitcher yesterday with really good stuff,’’ Sheets said before hitting his fourth home run of the season in the eighth inning to supply the Sox’ only run Monday. ‘‘[Orioles catcher James] McCann was like, ‘He was as good as I’ve seen him.’ I thought we attacked. We had a game plan.’’
Grifol’s take did not go over well in the clubhouse, which he aired out after the loss Sunday.
‘‘I just know that I’ve been fortunate enough to be in [the majors] for five years now,’’ Lopez said. ‘‘I’ve had four different managers, and all of them are different. The way they handle things is obviously going to be different.
‘‘It’s been a tough year for all of us, so some people handle that differently, as players do, as managers do, as coaches do. That’s just one of the things. We’re battling and grinding, busting our butt, and yesterday we didn’t have much going. He’s the manager, [and] he’s entitled to do what he wants to do. It’s our job to go out there and play.’’
The Sox were stymied offensively again, but Grifol said the at-bats were ‘‘a helluva lot better. Our guys competed. We just didn’t get the big hits.’’
‘‘Yeah, losing stinks,’’ said first baseman Andrew Vaughn, who had one of the Sox’ 10 hits. ‘‘I think that’s the biggest thing [about the ‘flat’ conversation]. No one in here wants to lose, from the top down.’’
Grifol said he has patience when it comes to development, improvement and adjustments, ‘‘but I don’t have any patience for not cherishing every single day you get to put on a major-league uniform. Zero.’’
Asked to be more precise about what he means by ‘‘flat,’’ Grifol wouldn’t specify.
‘‘Look, I’m not going to get into what ‘flat’ looks like or doesn’t look like,’’ he said. ‘‘Everybody who saw the game yesterday is going to have their own opinion. I had mine, OK? That’s pretty simple. I’m done with the flat. I’m done with the energy. I’ve already addressed it. They’ve addressed it. I’m not going to continue to address that.
‘‘You just can’t take days off. You can’t do it, mentally and physically.’’
