Padres escape late comeback from White Sox as Tatis Jr. plays hero in extra innings

The San Diego Padres host the Chicago White Sox for the final home series of the 2024 regular season. San Diego won a crucial opener of the series 3-2, as they are now just three wins shy of clinching a playoff birth. If SD sweeps Chicago, there is a chance they clinch by the end of the weekend.

WHO ELSE BESIDES EL NIÑO?! pic.twitter.com/JS8QNoxR0w

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) September 21, 2024

Fernando Tatis Jr. hits is second career walk-off hit in less than a month and it could not have come at a better time for the Friars.

“I was looking for the fastball the whole time,” Tatis said postgame to Bob Scanlan. “He gave me a good pitch, and I drove it.”

The Padres improved to 88-66 on the year, while the Sox fell to a miserable 36-118. Tatis was also asked if it feels like everything is clicking at the right time as a team.

“It definitely feels that way, and we are going to keep doing it that way,” Tatis said postgame.

The beginning of this contest displayed a pitching duel as both Joe Musgrove and Garrett Crochet had their stuff going. They combined to K up 14 hitters through four innings.

The White Sox threatened early in the first inning as Xander Bogaerts let a two-out dribbler go between his legs. Andrew Benintendi then singled to put two on base, but Musgrove was able to strike out Andrew Vaughn to retire the side.

Do the Friars miss Ha-Seong Kim’s defensive prowess? It’s clear that Bogaerts’ defense at shortstop has been iffy since the position change. For a player who has played that position his whole life, those mistakes cannot happen. The good news is he made up for the error with two hits on Friday night.

The first runs of the game did not come until the 6th inning. Jackson Merrill hit a blooper to right-center field just shy of a diving Luis Robert to score both Jurickson Profar and Manny Machado. Merrill is up to 88 RBIs on the season.

Said it before and we’ll say it again, The Kid is clutch! pic.twitter.com/yTo8wKTCmV

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) September 21, 2024

The Friars led 2-0 heading into the 7th inning as Musgrove was replaced by Jason Adam.

Adam had a smooth inning which set up Tanner Scott for the 8th. Vista native Korey Lee doubled to begin the inning for his second hit of the night. However, Scott managed to get out of the inning unharmed. He even helped himself out by fielding a ground ball and gunning Lee down as he was stuck in the base paths.

The Sox kept the Friars at two runs, and then Robert Suarez came in to attempt to close the game. After walking Gavin Sheets with two outs, he allowed a game-tying home run to Lenyn Sosa. That marks Suarez’s third blown save in his last six appearances. A conversation for a new closer might need to be had, and it could not have come at a worse time.

SD had a chance to walk-it-off in the bottom of the ninth but Luis Arraez hit a missile to first for a double play.

Onto extras …

In the top of the 10th, Tyler Wade gunned down Bryan Ramos at home to keep the game tied at two.

It took only two pitches for Nando to end the game. The Padres escaped a nightmare.

The Friars will look to win the series Saturday night. Martin Perez (4-5) takes on Chris Flexen (2-12) with a 5:40 first pitch.

Garrett Crochet

Crochet had the Padres silent early as he registered eight strikeouts, and the only hit allowed was to Jake Cronenworth through four innings. After the fourth inning, he was replaced by Prelander Berroa to make it 13 consecutive starts, not reaching the 5th.

Crochet is one of the top young hurlers in the game. He is a strikeout artist who began the season pitching at an extreme level. However, as the season progressed, the young star was put on an innings limit. The White Sox even considered trading him to a contender. Instead, they kept him, but he hasn’t surpassed four innings since June 30. Despite the restraint, he remains top 10 in strikeouts and has been elite all year.

His final line: 4.0 innings, one hit, zero runs, zero walks, eight K’s.

Joe Musgrove

No-no Joe continued to say no on Friday night. Wearing the City Connect jerseys, Musgrove shut down the White Sox at Petco Park and allowed just four hits en route to his seventh win of the campaign. He K’d up nine hitters for the 3rd time this season.

Joe Musgrove, K’ing the Side in the 3rd. pic.twitter.com/CNDe48ueXh

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 21, 2024

Musgrove’s final line: 6.0 innings, four hits, zero runs, zero walks, nine strikeouts in a tough no-decision.

Chris Spiering

Chris is a graduate of the University of San Diego. He is the former Sports Editor for the USDVista newspaper. Chris has covered the San Diego Loyal, and now covers San Diego State Men’s Basketball. He also contributes regularly about the Padres. Chris is an athlete and is a huge fan of San Diego sports.