The Chicago White Sox were trying to stave off two ugly achievements in their series finale against San Diego: avoiding their 120th loss of the season and getting swept for the 24th time. After scoring eight runs against the Los Angeles Angels to start this West Coast road trip on September 16, the White Sox offense had only scored seven runs in their last four games. Their task would be difficult, as they would have to face Padres starter Yu Darvish. To delay infamy another day, Sean Burke and his fellow White Sox pitchers must keep the Padres bats silent.
Burke did well, but the White Sox bullpen broke down again in the eighth inning as the Padres won 4-2. The 120th loss of 2024 sets a new American League worst and ties the 1962 New York Mets with six games remaining.
In the third inning, both teams exchanged solo home runs. Korey Lee hit his 11th off the season to give the White Sox a brief 1-0 lead. But Jurickson Profar bashed his 24th homer in 2024 in the bottom half, tying the game 1-1.
Later in the sixth inning, Miguel Vargas provided a pleasant surprise offensively. In a tough at-bat running the count full against Darvish, Vargas golfed the 3-2 slider for a big home run. Traveling 404 feet to left field, Vargas’ no-doubter gave the White Sox a 2-1 lead.
That’s all the damage White Sox hitters could muster against Darvish, who went 6.1 innings, allowing 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB 9 K on 87 pitches. For his career, Darvish now has 2,003 strikeouts and is the first Japanese-born pitcher in Major League Baseball history to eclipse 2,000 strikeouts.
Meanwhile, Burke set a new personal high in strikeouts. After allowing Profar’s home run, Burke retired the final 11 batters he faced. Serving another Quality Start, Burke, on 87 pitches, finished with a final line of 6.0 IP 2 H 1 ER 1 BB 8 K. On 46 swings against, Burke generated 15 whiffs (33% whiff rate) and reached 97 MPH on his four-seam fastball seven times.
Interim manager Grady Sizemore handed Prelander Berroa the seventh inning, facing San Diego’s heart of their order. After walking Manny Machado, Berrora sat down Jackson Merrill, Xander Bogaerts, and David Peralta in order.
Sizemore pushed Berroa into the eighth inning, and Donovan Solano pulled an inside fastball down the left-field line for a lead-off double. With Luis Arraez batting, Sizemore returned to the bullpen, asking Fraser Ellard to hold on to the lead.
On a 3-2 count, Ellard’s fastball caught too much of the plate as Arraez slapped it into left field. Solano scored, and Arraez reached second for an RBI double. Once again, the White Sox bullpen couldn’t hold a one-run lead late.
Now, it was about keeping the game tied. Facing Profar, Ellard was ahead in the count 1-2 but threw a fastball straight to the backstop. Pinch runner Tyler Wade advanced to third base and would score when Profar hit a fly ball deep enough to right field for a sacrifice fly. The Padres now had a 3-2 lead, and with the Petco Park crowd rocking, Fernando Tatis Jr. provided the fireworks with a mammoth solo home run.
Facing Robert Suarez, whose Closer role is in jeopardy after blowing his last Save opportunity Friday night against the White Sox, made quick work of Luis Robert Jr. and Andrew Benintendi in the ninth inning. With two outs, Andrew Vaughn reached on an infield single to keep the game alive for Gavin Sheets. On a 92 MPH changeup, Sheets whiffed for the final out. The San Diego faithful let out a loud cheer as they look ahead to home postseason games in October.
The White Sox players and coaching staff have a long flight home on an aging plane.
Game Notes
- San Diego Padres finish the regular season drawing 3,314,593, which is a new regular season attendance record at Petco Park. Prior to the White Sox final home stand against the Angels, they had drawn only 1,329,026 fans.
- Miguel Vargas went 2-for-4 which raises his season OPS to .547
- Korey Lee and Gavin Sheets had the other two hits for the White Sox
