It took a miracle for the White Sox to get this game to extra innings, so winning it in extras was too much of an ask.
The White Sox were down to their final strike twice in the bottom of the ninth against All-Star closer Robert Suarez, but Gavin Sheets kicked out of a pin with a nine-pitch walk, and Lenyn Sosa reversed the finishing move by rifling a 100.4 mph fastball into the left-field seats for a game-tying homer.
Furthering the good fortune, Fraser Ellard started the ninth by giving up a pair of soft singles and eventually faced runners on the corners with one out, only for Luis Arraez's liner to find Gavin Sheets for an inning-ending 1-unassisted double play.
That's where the luck ran out, and the talent shortage emerged. Dominic Fletcher had a runner on third and one out in the 10th, but the contact play with Bryan Ramos on a tapper to second resulted in an out at home, and Nicky Lopez struck out to turn it over the Padres. Fernando Tatis Jr. then ended the game by shooting Justin Anderson's second pitch of the night into the right-center gap.
Prior to the sudden tide-turning the ninth, this looked like a relatively straightforward loss. Garrett Crochet set the tone for a strong night of pitching by striking out eight over four one-hit innings, but Joe Musgrove matched his effectiveness for six. As Musgrove's night ended, Gus Varland gave up three straight two-out hits, including a flared single by Jackson Merrill that dropped just out of the reach of Fletcher's best diving effort for a 2-0 San Diego lead.
The result is the result, but it does raise some questions on both sides. For the Padres, Suarez came into this game with a 4.91 ERA since the start of August. It's now 5.59, and he's blown three of his last five save opportunities. For the White Sox, Fletcher and Lopez both hit against lefty Adrian Morejon in the 10th inning, making Yoán Moncada's inactivity even more pronounced.
Bullet points:
*Crochet reached 200 strikeouts, and has 23 of them against one walk over 13⅓ innings in September. It was some of his most overpowering work, as he racked up 14 whiffs over just 52 pitches.
*The White Sox bullpen combined for two strikeouts and nine whiffs over the final five-plus innings, over which they threw 115 pitches.
*The Sox defense played errorless ball, and even stole a couple outs. Prelander Berroa picked off Xander Bogaerts to help escape a three-baserunner inning unscored upon, and Korey Lee thwarted a sac bunt attempt with a laser throw to second.
*Lee gave up his own out after getting caught between second and third on a comebacker to the mound, negating a hustle double to lead off the eighth.
*The White Sox are now 3-10 in extra innings this year, and 11-29 in one-run games.
