September 23 – A three-run surge in the bottom of the eighth inning gave the San Diego Padres a 4–2 victory over the visiting Chicago White Sox on Sunday, moving the winning team closer to a National League playoff spot and the losing team reaching its worst stretch in National League playoff spot history.
Chicago (36-120) equaled the single-season losing streak of the 1962 New York Mets, the worst in modern MLB history. If the Mets lose their final six games, they will be wiped from the record books.
The loss to the White Sox was typical of their season. Leading 2-1 with six outs remaining, they soon put it away. Donovan Solano homered to start the inning and pinch-hitter Luis Arraez doubled off reliever Frazer Allard (2-3), sending backup runner Tyler Wade to home plate.
Brandon Lockridge came in for Iraez and reached third on a wild pitch before Jurickson Profar hit a flyout to right, an easy score on sacrifice fly to break the tie. Fernando Tatis Jr. ended the inning with a solo homer to left-center, his 20th of the year.
Jeremiah Estrada (6-2) pitched a perfect eighth inning, leading San Diego to a 90-66 win, its first 90-win season since 2010 and fifth in the ball team’s history for the first time. The Padres are three games ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks (who lost 10-9 at Milwaukee) and the New York Mets (who beat Philadelphia 2-1) for the wild-card spot in the National League.
The Padres are three games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for first place in the NL West. With a three-game series starting Tuesday night in Los Angeles, San Diego’s magic number to make the playoffs has dropped to 1.
Corey Lee gave Chicago a 1–0 lead with a solo homer to left field in the third inning, his 11th homer of the year. Profar tied the game with a single to left center in the bottom of the inning, his 24th home run of the season.
Miguel Vargas broke the deadlock in the sixth with a shot from nearly 404 feet to left-center, his fifth of the year.
Rookie Sean Burke pitched six innings for the White Sox, allowing just two hits and one run, allowing a four-base hit and striking out eight. Yu Darvish pitched 6 1/3 innings for the Padres, allowing three hits and two runs, no walks and nine strikeouts.
Darvish recorded his 2,000th MLB strikeout in the bottom of the third inning, allowing Luis Robert Jr. to notch his third strikeout. He was the first Japanese-born pitcher to accomplish the feat.
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