When the 27th out of their 28th win settled into Andrew Benintendi’s glove late Tuesday night, the Chicago White Sox had not so much made history, but rather avoided it.

Their 5-1 win over the Oakland Athletics meant they would not suffer 22 straight defeats, an American League record – at least, not this month. It meant they would not have to worry about losing two more, which would have tied the modern era major league record for consecutive losses at 23.

And it meant they did not have to worry about what would have happened if the streak had still been intact when they play the Cubs this weekend, forcing them to fend off their crosstown rivals to stave off unprecedented ignominy.

Even at a mere 21 games, the White Sox’s streak was memorable. The last time they won, on July 10, the Democratic nominee for vice president was a San Francisco Giants fan, not a Minnesota Twins fan. Mike Trout still had a chance to return this season. Erick Fedde and Tommy Pham and Michael Kopech, all since traded to the St. Louis Cardinals or Los Angeles Dodgers, were still on the team. Starter Garrett Crochet, who was not traded at the deadline, seemed likely to depart.

“Anytime you win, it’s great. Anytime you win when you lose 21 in a row, it feels even better,” White Sox Manager Pedro Grifol told reporters after Tuesday’s game. “I’m proud of these guys. They just keep coming to the ballpark every day to play hard. They care.”

If “coming to the ballpark every day” and “caring” feel like the bare minimum, rather than cause for praise, such is the reality of this White Sox season, which has been so abysmal that the facts read like insults.

Tuesday night’s win means the White Sox have a .241 winning percentage entering Wednesday afternoon’s series finale in Oakland. Over 162 games, that projects to a 39-123 record. The record for losses in a season belongs to the 1962 New York Mets, who lost 120 games in their inaugural season.

NASCAR: A person with knowledge of the schedule told The Associated Press that Bristol Motor Speedway will host a game between the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds next season on Aug. 2, 2025. The person spoke Wednesday to the AP on condition of anonymity because the game has not been publicly announced.

Officials from the track and its owner, Speedway Motorsports, have a press conference planned Friday to discuss Bristol’s 2025 schedule.

ASTROS: Framber Valdez just missed his second career no-hitter, a few days more than a year after his first. The Houston left-hander still got the victory in a streak of starts that has kept rolling even as the Astros cooled off.

Valdez was a strike away from a no-hitter against the rival Texas Rangers before a walk and Corey Seager’s two-run homer in the Astros’ 4-2 win on Tuesday night. Closer Josh Hader came on for his 23rd consecutive save as soon as Valdez lost his no-hit bid.

ORIOLES: Baltimore right-hander Grayson Rodriguez will be shut down for an unspecified period because of a mild strain in his right shoulder and back but the Orioles are “optimistic” he’ll return this season, Manager Brandon Hyde said Wednesday.

WEDNESDAY GAMES

YANKEES 5, ANGELS 2: Rookie Luis Gil battled command issues in cool conditions but pitched five scoreless innings of two-hit ball, Aaron Judge reached base three times and hit an RBI single, and surging New York beat visiting Los Angeles in the first game of a doubleheader on Wednesday.

The honored late Major League Baseball senior vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion Billy Bean with a moment of silence before the game. Bean, who became the second former Major League Baseball player to come out as gay in 1999, died Tuesday at 60 following a yearlong fight with acute myeloid leukemia.

ASTROS 6, RANGERS 4: Yordan Alvarez hit a 117 mph homer for the Houston slugger’s hardest shot of the season, Yusei Kikuchi struck out eight pitching into the sixth inning and the Astros won in Arlington, Texas.