White Sox Tie MLB Record for Losses, Padres Clinch 90 Wins
SAN DIEGO – The Chicago White Sox tied the post-1900 MLB record of 120 losses on Sunday, falling to the San Diego Padres 4-2 after a three-run rally in the eighth inning, capped by a towering home run from Fernando Tatis Jr.
The White Sox (36-120) had taken a 2-1 lead on home runs from Korey Lee and Miguel Vargas off Yu Darvish, but the lead quickly evaporated in the eighth. This defeat followed the White Sox tying the American League record of 119 losses on Saturday.
“No loss is good,” said interim manager Grady Sizemore. “It’s not something that we’re focused on. I think everyone outside this clubhouse is more obsessed with it than us. The way we spin is to put this one behind us and get ready for the series back home.”
With one more loss in their final six games, the White Sox will hold the modern-day record outright. They face the Los Angeles Angels at home for three games beginning Tuesday night and finish the season with three games at Detroit, who are in the AL wild-card hunt.
The Padres (90-66) secured their first 90-win season since 2010, a year in which they finished 90-72 but missed the playoffs due to a late-season collapse. The win also reduced their magic number to one for clinching their third postseason berth since 2020.
San Diego controls their own destiny as they enter a three-game series against the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers starting Tuesday night. A sweep would clinch the division title, as the Padres hold the tiebreaker despite the Dodgers’ three-game lead. The Padres also have a three-game advantage over the Arizona Diamondbacks for the NL’s top wild card position, and finish the season with three games in Arizona.
“We’re never out and that’s probably since the first week that we played baseball this year,” Tatis said. “What we have been doing over here is really special. We have the talent to go all the way. But it’s time to take care of business one day at a time.”
The Padres tied the game at 2 in the eighth inning when Donovan Solano and pinch-hitter Luis Arraez hit consecutive doubles off Fraser Ellard (2-3). Arraez advanced on a wild pitch and scored the go-ahead run on Jurickson Profar’s sacrifice fly. Tatis then launched his 20th home run of the season, a towering shot into the left field stands.
“It felt amazing. It felt like I showed it that way after I hit it,” said Tatis, who celebrated with an exuberant trot to third base.
White Sox rookie Sean Burke pitched a strong game, holding the Padres to one run and two hits in six innings in just his third big league appearance and second start. He struck out eight and walked one.
“Burke threw a hell of a game,” Benintendi said. “They’ve got a lot of good bats up and down that lineup, guys that have played a long time and once they get the lead with that bullpen, it seems like its pretty much over at this point.”
Lee, a native of northern San Diego County, hit a line shot homer to left in the third inning for his 11th of the season. Profar tied the game in the bottom of the same inning with his 24th home run of the year.
The White Sox regained the lead in the sixth inning when Vargas hit his fifth homer of the season.
Darvish reached a historical milestone in the third inning, becoming the first Japanese-born player to reach 2,000 career strikeouts when he fanned Jacob Amaya. He finished with nine strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings on Sunday, pushing his 12-season MLB total to 2,003. He walked nine while allowing two runs and three hits.
Robert Suarez pitched the ninth inning, earning his 34th save.