Padres beat White Sox and move closer to a playoff spot – NBC 7 San Diego

The Padres won. The Braves lost. That makes for a pretty good Friday night in San Diego.

Fernando Tatis Jr.'s walkoff double in the 10th inning helped the Friars to a 3-2 victory over the White Sox in their final regular-season home series of the year before another sold-out Petco Park. Combined with Atlanta's 4-3 loss at Miami, San Diego's magic number is down to three.

To have a chance at a home berth in the postseason, they realistically need to beat Chicago, which is entirely possible. The White Sox have been beaten 21 times this year. Their best chance to avoid 22 was to have All-Star left-hander Garrett Crochet on the mound to start the series.

The kid was every bit as good as advertised. He has an innings limit and only managed 4.0 frames, but still managed eight strikeouts and allowed just one hit. Luckily for the Padres, they had their own ace on the mound.

Joe Musgrove was brilliant as always, throwing 6.0 innings without a score, with nine punchouts and no walks for the second consecutive night. It looked like he was going to be runless for a while, but his bats helped him in the second half of the 6th inning.

Jurickson Profar and Manny Machado each singled with two outs, then Jackson Merrill continued to do magic. The rookie hit a flare between three defenders in shallow right-center field for a two-run double that put the Padres up 2-0. Jason Adam and Tanner Scott kept it that way with scoreless innings.

The 9th inning, however, became a bit of a problem. All-Star closer Robert Suarez allowed a walk and then served up a 2-run home run to second baseman Lenyn Sosa, the third home run he'd allowed in September. The home run tied the game at 2-2 and forced overtime. Unlike 2023, this is a period in which the Padres thrive.

Adrian Morejon kept the White Sox away from scoring, and Fernando Tatis Jr. opened the 10th inning with a line-shot double to right-center field that brought home Brandon Lockridge for the game-winning run. It's the 2nd walkoff hit of the season for Tatis Jr., the latest continuation of a magical baseball season in San Diego that shows no signs of slowing down.