Sale's Cy Young bid takes a hit as Chicago White Sox fall 8-3

Nearing the end of their eighth straight season without a playoff appearance, the Chicago White Sox certainly don't have much to play for as a team.

It's individual accolades or bust for the Sox, and that's about the only reason why anyone was paying attention to Wednesday night's interleague game at Philadelphia.

Earlier Wednesday, BovadaLV came out with updated Cy Young Award odds, and White Sox ace Chris Sale was the favorite at 8/5, followed closely by Cleveland's Corey Kluber and Boston's Rick Porcello, both listed at 2/1.

Kluber and Porcello pitch for first-place teams, but Sale took some impressive statistics to the mound against the Phillies.

Looking to become the first Sox pitcher to win the Cy Young since Jack McDowell in 1993, Sale faced Philadelphia with the second-lowest ERA (3.03) in the American League and the third lowest WHIP (1.02).

The 27-year-old lefty also ranked fourth in the league in wins (16) and strikeouts (215), and Sale was shooting for his seventh straight start pitching 8 or more innings. McDowell was the last White Sox pitcher to go 8-plus innings over 7 straight starts, in 1994.

The impressive run came to a screeching halt, as Sale (16-9) gave up 6 runs on 7 hits in just 4 innings, raising his ERA to 3.23. The Sox lost to the Phillies 8-3.

Kluber started for the Indians on Wednesday night and got the win after allowing 2 runs on 6 hits in 6⅓ innings. While improving his record to 18-9, Kluber lowered his ERA to 3.11.

Porcello is 21-4 with a 3.08 ERA for the Red Sox.

Sale consistently has said he cares more about team performance than individual achievement, and he stuck to that script after being shelled by the Phillies.

"I don't play for stuff like that," Sale told reporters. "I'm here to win games, not to win any trophies or whatever else. I want to win."

During his stretch of 6 straight starts working at least 8 innings, Sale averaged 118 pitches thrown. Did the heavy workload catch up to him Wednesday, when he totaled just 72 pitches?

"No. Just (bad)," Sale said. "Everyone is entitled to have a bad night, and tonight was mine. I was just godawful tonight."

So were the rest of the White Sox, and they now are a season-high eight games under .500 at 72-80.

Adam Eaton led off the game with a solo home run, and Todd Frazier and Alex Avila added solo shots in the seventh.