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 home run to lift the San Diego Padres to a 6-2 victory and move them closer to a playoff spot.
The White Sox (36-119) matched the AL record of the 2003 Detroit Tigers, who finished 43-119. Another loss for Chicago in the final seven games would tie the record of 120 losses set by the 1900 New York Mets, who expanded to the U.S. in 1962, and two more would set a record. The 1899 Cleveland Spiders hold the overall major league record of losses at 20-134.
Chris Flexen (2-15) is winless in his last 23 starts for a White Sox club that lost its 20th straight road series. Chicago, now 9-48 since the All-Star break, is on pace for 124 losses, according to ESPN Research.
“They’ve been playing good baseball the last few days,” Bogaerts said of Chicago. “Obviously we want to win every game by a big margin, but these guys are resisting. They’re trying to be a spoiler for us. Nothing has been made easy for us the last few days. It was nice to be able to fight a little more than people expected.”
David Peralta also hit a home run for San Diego (89-66), which maintained its two-game lead over Arizona and secured the first wild card spot in the National League.
The Padres reduced their magic number to two, securing their second playoff berth in three seasons, and received no help from the Atlanta Braves or New York Mets, both of whom won on Saturday.
Bogaerts gave the Padres a 2-0 lead with a hit to left-center field in the second inning against Flexen. It was Bogaerts’ 11th home run and came when rookie Jackson Merrill came on with a leadoff single.
“It’s a good lineup,” Chicago manager Grady Sizemore said of the Padres. “If you make mistakes at the plate, they can hurt you.”
Peralta hit a one-out home run in the third, his eighth. Merrill, considered by some to be the favorite for NL Rookie of the Year, hit an RBI single in the fifth.
Diaz hit a two-run shot against former Padres relief pitcher Enyel De Los Santos in the eighth inning, his sixth of the season.
Lenyn Sosa hit an RBI single against Martin Perez (5-5) in the sixth inning for the White Sox. Bryan Ramos drew a bases-loaded walk from Padres relief pitcher Jason Adam in the eighth inning.
Perez held Chicago to one run and two hits in 5⅓ innings, with six strikeouts and three walks. And Tanner Scott got five outs for his 22nd save.
Flexen allowed four runs and eight hits in five innings, striking out three times and walking twice.
The White Sox will field right-hander Sean Burke (1-0, 2.25 ERA) in a historic performance on Sunday, against right-hander Yu Darvish (6-3, 3.21) of the Padres.
“It was tough to get hits tonight,” Sizemore said. “But we had good at-bats.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
