Sep 22, 2024, 12:38 AM ET
SAN DIEGO — The Chicago White Sox tied the American League record with their 119th loss Saturday night, when Xander Bogaerts and Elias Diaz each hit a two-run homer to help the San Diego Padres to a 6-2 win and move closer to a playoff spot.
The White Sox (36-119) matched the AL mark set by the 2003 Detroit Tigers, who finished 43-119. One more defeat for Chicago over its final seven games would equal the post-1900 record of 120 losses by the 1962 expansion New York Mets, and two more would set a record. The 1899 Cleveland Spiders hold the overall major league record for losses at 20-134.
Chris Flexen (2-15) remained winless in his past 23 starts for a White Sox club that lost its 20th straight road series. According to ESPN Research, Chicago, which is now 9-48 since the All-Star break, is on pace for 124 losses.
“They’ve been playing some good baseball these last couple of days,” Bogaerts said of Chicago. “Obviously, we want to win every game by a big margin, but these guys are putting up a fight. They’re trying to be spoilers. Nothing’s been given easy to us these last couple of days. It’s been nice to be able to fight for it a little bit more than people would have expected.”
David Peralta also homered for San Diego (89-66), which maintained a two-game lead over Arizona for the top National League wild-card spot.
The Padres reduced their magic number to two for clinching their second playoff berth in three seasons. They received no help from the Atlanta Braves or the New York Mets, both of whom won Saturday.
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Bogaerts gave the Padres a 2-0 lead with his shot to left-center field with no outs in the second inning off Flexen. It was Bogaerts’ 11th homer and it came with rookie Jackson Merrill aboard on a leadoff single.
“It’s a good lineup,” Chicago manager Grady Sizemore said of the Padres. “You make mistakes over the plate, and they might hurt you.”
Peralta homered with one out in the third, his eighth. Merrill, considered by some the front-runner for NL Rookie of the Year, hit an RBI single in the fifth.
Diaz hit a two-run shot in the eighth off former Padres reliever Enyel De Los Santos. It was his sixth of the season.
Lenyn Sosa hit an RBI single in the sixth for the White Sox off Martin Perez (5-5). Bryan Ramos drew a bases-loaded walk from Padres reliever Jason Adam in the eighth.
Perez held Chicago to one run and two hits in 5⅓ innings, struck out six and walked three. And Tanner Scott recorded five outs for his 22nd save.
Flexen gave up four runs and eight hits in five innings, struck out three and walked two.
With history awaiting, the White Sox will start right-hander Sean Burke (1-0, 2.25 ERA) on Sunday, opposed by Padres righty Yu Darvish (6-3, 3.21).
“Hits were hard to come by tonight,” Sizemore said. “But we had good at-bats.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
