CHICAGO _ The Chicago White Sox looked like the rusty team coming off a long layoff in Game 1 of Saturday's doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Lucas Giolito allowed four runs in the first inning as the Sox lost to the Cardinals, 5-1 at Guaranteed Rate Field.
The Cardinals had another four-run outburst in the fifth inning of Game 2. Tyler O'Neill hit a two-run home run in the inning, and the Cardinals topped the Sox 6-3 to complete the sweep.
It was a disappointing day for the Sox against a team that was playing for the first time since July 29. The Cardinals had been sidelined after a rash of positive COVID-19 tests among players and staff.
The Cardinals jumped on Giolito early. He surrendered four hits, a walk and hit two batters in the first.
"They put together good at-bats in the first inning," Giolito said. "I just have to be better coming out of the gate in the first inning, commanding my fastball. I think that will lead to more success."
He hit O'Neill to load the bases, then hit Matt Carpenter on the next pitch to bring in Kolten Wong with the game's first run.
Dexter Fowler drove in two with a two-out, two-strike single, and Andrew Knizner's RBI single made it 4-0 in the first inning.
Sox manager Rick Renteria said the Sox did not take the Cardinals lightly.
"No one should take for granted what talent can do if it continues to execute," Renteria said after Game 1. "They were able to do it. If we get away from that one pitch (to Fowler) that ended up dropping three more extra runs in that first inning, maybe it's a different ballgame, maybe we're still battling.
"Lucas tried to regroup, kept us in the ballgame after that. We had plenty of opportunities to try to get something going against (Cardinals starter) Adam (Wainwright). He did a nice job against us."
Giolito allowed five runs _ four earned _ on six hits with five strikeouts and two walks in five innings.
"It got better after the first inning but it has to be better in the first," Giolito said. "I can't put us in a hole there."
Wainwright and two relievers limited the Sox to three hits in the seven-inning game.
"You've got to get back to tipping your cap to a guy that's probably commanding better than anybody thought he was going to do with the layoff," Renteria said. "He's still Adam Wainwright, he did what he's supposed to do."
Sox second baseman Danny Mendick went 2 for 2 with one run.
Luis Robert had the other hit, a double, for the Sox in Game 1. Robert hit a 435-foot solo home run in the third inning of Game 2 to give the Sox a 1-0 lead.
Paul Goldschmidt tied the game with a home run to left in the fourth.
Eloy Jimenez's two-run home run to right _ his team-leading sixth homer _ in the fourth gave the Sox a 3-1 lead.
The Cardinals responded with four runs in the fifth. O'Neill broke a 3-all tie with a two-run home run to left. The Cardinals added a run in the seventh.
The Sox had just three hits in Game 2, two from Jimenez, and lost for the seventh time in 10 games.
It's the second time the Sox have been swept in a doubleheader this season. They dropped both games against the Indians on July 28 at Progressive Field in Cleveland.
But Saturday marked the first time the Sox participated in a seven-inning doubleheader, an adjustment Major League Baseball made Aug. 1 for the pandemic-shortened season.
With the two losses Saturday, the Sox fell to one game under .500 (10-11). They are 2-8 at Guaranteed Rate Field.
