White Sox look to get offense going vs. Mariners

CHICAGO -- Until Sunday, the Seattle Mariners had found plenty of success when scoring at least four runs.

The Chicago White Sox, meanwhile, are just trying to figure out a way to score.

The Mariners enter Monday's series opener against the White Sox coming off only their second loss in 11 games when Seattle scored at least four times. Seattle (11-9) went 3-for-16 with runners in scoring position in a 7-4 loss to the Texas Rangers on Sunday.

The failure to take advantage of scoring opportunities wasted a big day by Mitch Haniger, who went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a home run and three RBI. But as the Mariners' road trip continues in Chicago, manager Scott Servais knows that his team needs to be better at making the most of its chances.

"With all that traffic on the bases, you are hoping for more than four runs," Servais told reporters after Sunday's loss, according to the Seattle Times. "It was a good series. We won the series. It would have been nice to get the sweep today. We had the chances. We just didn't get the hits today."

The Mariners, who lost for the fourth time in six games, will attempt to regroup against the White Sox, who have dropped seven straight games.

Mike Leake (2-1, 4.50 ERA) will start for Seattle looking for his first win since April 7. Leake struck out seven in his most recent outing but yielded five earned runs in a loss to the Houston Astros. Leake will face the White Sox for the first time in his career.

The White Sox (4-14) managed to just score one run in Sunday's 7-1 loss to the Houston Astros. Chicago finished the three-game series being outscored 27-2, which continued a trend in which the White Sox have struggled to generate enough offense to keep them competitive.

"You kind of understand that you're in the middle of a rebuild," shortstop Tim Anderson said Sunday, according to the Chicago Tribune. "Struggling is going to happen so we just have to learn from it and just keep playing.

"It's a game and we just have to go out and have fun. The wins will come."

Miguel Gonzalez (0-3, 12.41) continues to search for his first victory of the season after his roughest outing of the year. He was charged with eight earned runs in just three innings against the Oakland Athletics and has surrendered at least four earned runs in each of his starts. Gonzalez is 1-2 in five career starts against the Mariners with a 6.49 ERA.

While Chicago attempts to end its skid as its homestand continues Monday, manager Rick Renteria said he's not worried about morale becoming an issue. Sunday's loss dropped the White Sox to 1-8 at home this season.

"Look, the only guy that can bring these guys down is going to be me, and that's not going to happen. I'll pick these guys up every single day, not that they need it," Renteria told reporters, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. "But understand this ... no one likes walking away from any activity, any competition, on the bottom side of the outcome. No one.

"So they're having to understand and appreciating and respecting the loss knowing what's going on, and then they've got to put it to bed and they've got to get ready for the next one.

"I wouldn't worry about their morale. We're going to keep going."