Padres approaching postseason clinch entering series vs. listless White Sox

After losing two of three to the New York Mets, the San Diego Padres know time is running out to overtake the Los Angeles Dodgers for the National League West title.

The Padres (83-70) look to keep their division-title hopes alive when they begin a three-game series against the host White Sox (57-96) on Friday.

San Diego fell three games behind Los Angeles with a 6-1 loss to the Mets on Thursday while the Dodgers beat the Giants 2-1. The Padres hold a four-game lead over New York for the second NL wild-card spot with nine games remaining.

Fernando Tatis Jr. had two of the Padres' six hits on Thursday as the team wrapped up a series that had a postseason vibe. San Diego manager Mike Shildt pulled starting pitcher Randy Vasquez in the third inning in Thursday's loss.

Manny Machado singled in the loss and is 9-for-19 with three home runs over his past five games.

"(We're) just trying to play some good baseball to finish out the year and put ourselves in a good position to make a deep push," Machado said. "We've just got to finish strong."

San Diego could clinch its fourth postseason berth in the last six seasons with a successful series against the White Sox, who have lost six straight games.

Chicago allowed a season-high seven stolen bases in a 3-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday. The White Sox need to go 6-3 or better over their final nine games to avoid a third straight 100-loss season.

"I know it's not easy to win games, and sometimes we do our best and it doesn't happen," said Chicago pitcher Martin Perez. "But I think next year is going to be different."

One bright spot has been the play of second baseman Chase Meidroth, who is batting .422 (19-for-45) during a career-high 13-game hitting streak.

The series opener features a pair of right-handers as Chicago's Davis Martin (6-10, 4.01 ERA) faces San Diego's Dylan Cease (8-11, 4.59).

Martin, 28, allowed two runs over five innings in a 3-1 loss to the Cleveland Guardians last Saturday. He settled in after throwing 29 pitches in the first inning and giving up a two-run homer to C.J. Kayfus in the second.

"He had really good stuff," manager Will Venable said. "We really asked a lot of him to get through (the first inning) and he did a really good job."

Martin is set to make his second career start against San Diego. He allowed one run over 5 2/3 innings in a 3-1 win over the Padres on Sept. 30, 2022.

Cease, 29, won his second straight start with an impressive outing against the Colorado Rockies last Saturday. He struck out six and gave up one run over six innings in an 11-3 victory.

Cease surpassed 1,000 career innings in the win, also surpassing 200 strikeouts for the fifth straight season.

"It hasn't exactly been a year I'm super happy with, but we're still in it," Cease said. "All I really care about is winning at the end of the day. So as long as I keep contributing to winning, I'm pretty happy."

This will be Cease's first time pitching against his former team. He was with the White Sox from 2019-23 before he was traded to the Padres weeks before the start of the 2024 season.

--Field Level Media