White Sox righty Sean Burke's roll comes to screeching halt against Mariners

Right-hander Sean Burke entered the White Sox’ series opener Friday against the Mariners at Rate Field on a tidy roll.

But things got messy for Burke and the Sox in a 12-8 loss, their third in a row.

In Burke’s previous three outings, he was 2-0 with a 0.93 ERA in 19⅓ innings. He had
allowed only two runs and 12 hits with 15 strikeouts and two walks during that span.

What’s more, Burke hadn’t yielded a run — only seven hits and a walk — in his last two appearances, both dominant outings. He tossed 7⅓ scoreless innings — his longest outing in the majors — behind an opener April 24 against the Nationals in a game that went to extra innings tied 0-0 at the Rate, then fanned eight Padres in six innings last Saturday in San Diego to lower his ERA to 2.72.

Burke kept it up with a 1-2-3 first inning against the Mariners, but an abrupt loss of command and some missed pitch locations doomed him. He ended up allowing six runs and six hits in 4⅓ innings and taking the loss.

Burke also walked two and hit two batters, forcing in the Mariners’ first run with a bases-loaded hit batsman in the second.

Six more runs against the Sox’ bullpen overwhelmed what should have been ample offense.

Sox rookie Munetaka Murakami hit his 15th home run in the first to tie Aaron Judge for the major-league lead. His solo shot to left was his first to the opposite field.

Colson Montgomery delivered a bases-clearing double past Mariners center fielder Julio Rodriguez in the third. It tied the score at 5-5 after the Mariners had jumped ahead 5-1 in the top of the inning on Luke Raley’s first career grand slam.

Newcomer Randal Grichuk added a solo homer as a pinch hitter in the ninth in his first home at-bat with the Sox.

‘‘I just didn’t think I did a very good job of executing pitches kind of in general, like in the zone and just being in the zone in general,’’ Burke said. ‘‘Command within the zone was just bad.

‘‘Obviously, the grand slam on the fastball down the middle, but I think some stuff before that. And just leaving some stuff too middle and having the misses be too big.’’

Raley’s slam, the first of his two homers on a career-high seven-RBI night, came on a center-cut fastball that Burke served up on an 0-2 count after Raley swung and missed two pitches on the edge of the strike zone.

‘‘I think we’re just frustrated with that, especially on a night where the offense is putting up runs against good arms,’’ Burke said.

Burke threw 52 of his 74 pitches for strikes, but the cracks started to show in the second. After giving up a single to Josh Naylor leading off the inning, Burke hit a batter, walked one and then hit Cole Young to force in a run that tied the score at 1-1.

Burke retired the first two Mariners routinely in the third before giving up singles to Naylor and Randy Arozarena. He then walked J.P. Crawford, throwing four consecutive balls after an opening strike, to load the bases before Raley connected.

‘‘A couple of innings in there were really good, but there were a couple when a lot of traffic worked through at one time,’’ Sox manager Will Venable said. ‘‘And the second time on an 0-2 pitch [to Raley] that’s he’s trying to get up in the zone [and] just leaves down the middle.’’

Burke said he’ll make adjustments quickly, but this outing might have dashed premature hopes that the Sox already had found a reliable starter behind emerging ace Davis Martin.

‘‘I don’t think I necessarily got away from anything,’’ Burke said. ‘‘Like I said, I’ve just got to do a better job of executing pitches. It’s a hard game, and that’s a tough lineup. So [if] you don’t execute three or four pitches in big spots, that’s kind of the results you’re going to get.’’

Raley’s second homer of the game, a three-run shot against Tyler Davis in the seventh, upped the Mariners’ lead to 9-5. They tacked on three more against newcomer Trevor Richards in the eighth.