La Russa sides with fans booing White Sox off field: 'There ain't no free lunch'

The Chicago White Sox were booed off the field by their fans following Friday's 7-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks at Guaranteed Rate Field, and manager Tony La Russa feels like his club deserved it.

"They came to see us win a ballgame, and we got beat," La Russa said, according to The Athletic's James Fegan. "Most of the game, it was lopsided, right? They have every right to be upset - at the team, management, whatever, they've got every right to do it.

"It's amazing fan support here, and I've got plenty of experience. But there ain't no free lunch. It's a two-way relationship. They support you, and you've got to give back. So we've got to do more about giving back."

Most of the damage against the White Sox came during a six-run second inning against starter Johnny Cueto. Chicago's right-hander allowed seven earned runs across five innings in his worst start of the season.

Cueto's velocity was down during the outing, but he refused to blame the poor performance on the issue.

"It was just a bad outing," he said. "I'm a human being, too, and it happens. We have to keep our heads up, just like the horses. Head up and keep moving forward."

The White Sox own a 3-7 record in their last 10 contests and are 63-63 overall. Chicago sits 4 1/2 games behind the Cleveland Guardians for top spot in the American League Central and 5 1/2 games behind the Seattle Mariners for the last wild-card spot in the AL.