The bury, bury month of May: This month looks too much like the last for White Sox

 MILWAUKEE -- These White Sox appear to be exactly who they are. The worst team in baseball, but not worsening. Just consistently bad.

As May came to a close with the intention of stopping an eight game losing streak in a game against the Brewers at American Family Field, the Sox’ May numbers look very similar to their numbers of April and the last three days of March.

Going into Friday, with 30 games played in March and April, and 27 in May, the worst offense in the majors had 84 runs in May and 77 before; 20 homers in the May and 19 in March/April; 44 doubles in both; 16 and 18 (May) stolen bases; a .212/.278/.321 hitting line with a .600 OPS before May and .215/.278/.337 with a .611 OPS during.

So you get the picture.

And wins and losses? The Sox were 6-24 in March-April and 9-18 in May, which adds up to the worst start in franchise history.

The pitching was a little better in May, with a 4.35 ERA compared to 5.05, and 8.7 strikeouts per nine innings compared to 8.3 strikeouts. There was an improvement of 13 fewer walks.

June will be here Saturday.

“A new month,” second baseman Nicky Lopez said Friday. “Going by fast, but it’s not going by fast. We have to just keep going, come to the ballpark and end the streak. Keep playing for one another, keep playing for the guys in the clubhouse.

“It’s tough right now.”

Lopez played on 97- and 103-loss teams with the Royals, so he knows tough.

“When you don’t see a win in sight,” Lopez said.

He also played for a 104-win team with the Braves.

“When you know every day you're going to win,” he said. “Which is awesome. No one likes being on this side.”

And the here and now?

“You can get to a point where you don’t see a win in sight,” Lopez said. “But we have to keep coming every day, try to simplify, get a runner over, play simple baseball, score a guy when we have a chance, make a play.”

Lopez reiterated that the clubhouse remains together, so there's that. He knows losing teams can "fall in that trap of thinking of your personal numbers when things go south."

But that’s when things get worse.

"Have to keep pushing each other," he said. "We will in here.”

Manager Pedro Grifol, on Royals coaching staffs when Lopez played in Kansas City, tried pushing his players Sunday by saying they were flat, then doubled down the next day.

“He has every right to blow up on us if he needs to,” Lopez said. “It’s our job to come in here every day and play our best. It was a little miscommunication between us and him. And the media gets involved.

"I’ve known Pedro for more than four years. I’ve had five managers and each one handles things differently.”

Grifol, in his second season and carrying a 76-143 record into Friday's game, said “the fix is we’ve got to make improvements every day.”

He said he and the coaches have to get creative.

“It’s 162 games," he said. "This game can get you in a routine where you’re doing the same thing every single day. And we have to find ways to change it up and find ways to execute a fundamental, whether it’s an at-bat, whether it’s a pitch, whether it’s a cutoff and relay — whatever it is — find ways of doing it different ways if the way we’re doing it’s not working. This game’s all about creativity."