The Chicago White Sox tried just about everything in their home finale Sunday against the San Diego Padres, including inserting catcher Korey Lee in left field after he entered as a pinch runner in the bottom of the seventh.
Lee made a sliding catch near the left-field foul line in the top of the eighth.
“See ball and catch ball,” Lee said. “Just go out and try to do whatever I can. Good things happen whenever you trust that.”
Lee dropped a fly ball in the ninth, but then made up for it on the next batter with a strong throw to the plate after making a catch, keeping a runner at third.
All the maneuvering, which manager Will Venable said led to Lee playing the outfield in an “emergency” situation, wasn’t enough as the offense couldn’t produce a big hit in a 3-2 loss in front of 24,205 at Rate Field.
The Sox went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position — the two runs came via bases-loaded walks — on the way to losing two of three in the series.
Fans react after Korey Lee of the Chicago White Sox makes a play during the eighth inning against the San Diego Padres at Rate Field on Sept. 21, 2025. (Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
“Tough game, but I thought we played well,” Venable said. “Some really good stuff offensively. Just couldn’t get that big hit. Pitching was great, (starter) Sean (Burke) did a great job keeping us in the game and outstanding job by the bullpen.
“It’s tough, you do such a good job in really every phase, put yourself in a position down the stretch. We had some big at-bats with runners on base and weren’t able to get the big hit.”
The Sox finished the home portion of their schedule 33-48 at Rate Field, a 10-win improvement from 2024.
But with Sunday’s loss, they fell to 58-98 overall — matching a season-high at 40 games under .500. They need to win five of their final six games to avoid a third straight season with at least 100 losses. They lost 101 games in 2023 and had a modern-day major-league record 121 defeats last season.
Last year’s mark included going 23-58 at home. The .284 winning percentage represents the lowest in franchise history. The Sox finished 2025 with a .407 home winning percentage.
The Sox began 2025 with Burke on the mound at home against the Los Angeles Angels. The right-hander started Sunday’s home finale, allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits with four strikeouts and no walks in four innings.
“I felt good with my stuff,” Burke said. “I was in the zone early and all the stuff felt sharp. I think really just made one bad pitch (a first-pitch fastball) to (Fernando) Tatis (Jr., which resulted in a solo home run in the third inning to give the Padres a 3-0 lead).
“It was kind of a middle-middle fastball that he put a pretty good swing on. But other than that, I felt good with everything.”
While Burke and four relievers helped the Sox remain close, the offense just couldn’t consistently click.
The Sox had runners first and second with no outs in the first and second innings and failed to score. They loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth. A strikeout, pop out and strikeout followed.
Miguel Vargas of the Chicago White Sox throws T-shirts to the fans following the game against the San Diego Padres at Rate Field on Sept. 21, 2025. (Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
They scored twice in the seventh when Miguel Vargas and Andrew Benintendi drew bases-loaded walks.
Benintendi, who has been dealing with lower-body soreness, entered as a pinch hitter and was lifted for Lee after he reached first base. Mike Tauchman was getting a day of rest. The Sox had already subbed out Brooks Baldwin and Will Robertson earlier in the game, with Michael A. Taylor entering to play center field. All that led to Lee getting his first major-league look in the outfield.
“Korey has been working extremely hard,” Venable said. “We really didn’t have any other options. We chose to pinch-hit in some big spots where it was time to fire some bullets. We had some guys on the bench who weren’t able to play defense. We had to go to Korey Lee.”
Lee added, “I’ll learn from mistakes and keep on learning the game.”
The Sox drew their ninth walk of the game with one out in the eighth, but the rally quickly ended with a double play.
“To be in those spots, you have to do a lot of good things and guys did,” Venable said of all the baserunners. “Just in the biggest spots, we weren’t able to move the ball forward and get that big hit.”
Following the defeat, members of the team and coaching staff tossed T-shirts to the crowd as goodbye gifts. The Sox close the season on the road, playing three games each against the New York Yankees and Washington Nationals.
“We appreciate the fans coming out as always,” Burke said. “We think we have great fans, so with our group, I think we feed off the energy the crowd brings a lot. So hopefully there’s a lot more to come with that.”