With just six games remaining in the San Diego Padres 2025 regular season, getting the kind of performance from starting pitcher Michael King that had earned him the slot as Opening Day starter was a major positive for the San Diego Padres in a 3-2 win over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday afternoon at Rate Field.
King went five innings, scattering four hits and four walks while striking out a quartet while working around men in scoring position each of the first two frames. Fernando Tatis Jr. backed him up by launching his 150th career home run in the third inning, the cherry on top for the San Diego (85-71) offense after a pair of runs in the second inning.
With the win, the Padres’ magic number to clinch an MLB Postseason spot for the second consecutive season and fourth time in six seasons is now two. The franchise has not made the Postseason in back-to-back years since the 2005 and 2006 seasons, and with a combination of either two wins or two losses by the Cincinnati Reds and New York Mets would secure the their second consecutive second season trip.
Jackson Merrill opened the account in the second inning, leading off with a single and advancing to third on Gavin Sheets’ second hit in the designated hitter’s return to the Southside. Chicago starter Sean Burke made an error on a pickoff attempt that allowed Merrill to score, then Jake Cronenworth whacked an 0-1 fastball into center field that plated Sheets for the early 2-0 lead.
The Padres added on an inning later when Tatis ambushed a first-pitch fastball from Burke that hung right down the heart of the plate, bashing the right fielder’s 23rd home run of the season 432 feet out to left field. Tatis has left the year five times in September.
With the three-run lead in his back pocket, King allowed a lone walk in the third and a hit in the forth, but got the White Sox in order in his final frame of work. The San Diego starter earned his fifth win of the year by throwing 43 of his 70 pitches for strikes, and turned the game over to Adrian Morejon for the sixth after loading the bases with a pair of hits and a walk.
Morejon navigated the tough situation by getting a strikeout by Curtis Mead, foul-tipping an 0-2 slider into the glove of Freddy Fermin, then inducing a pop out by Lenyn Sosa to first baseman Ryan O’Hearn. He got out of the inning by freezing pinch hitter Michael A. Taylor with a sinker on the inside black for his second K of the inning.
The White Sox got both of their runs in the seventh inning off reliever Kyle Hart when the first two batters reached. Mason Miller was called upon after a one out walk that loaded the bases and walked a pair to plate both of the Chicago runs in Hart’s charge. Wandy Peralta allowed a walk in the eighth with a strikeout and Robert Suarez pitched a clean ninth with two Ks to earn his 40th save of the season — only Kansas City’s Carlos Estévez (41) has earned more.
Up next the Padres welcome the top team in the Majors as the 95-win Milwaukee Brewers visit America’s Finest City. Nick Pivetta (13-5, 2.81 ERA) will toe the rubber for the Brown and Gold, facing righty Freddy Peralta (17-6, 2.65 ERA), with first pitch scheduled for 6:40 p.m. at Petco Park.