MEXICO CITY — The man buying the Padres is expected to watch his new team play Sunday afternoon.

José E. Felicano will join Alfredo Harp Helú, an original member of the ownership group that bought the team in 2012, in his box for the finale of the Padres’ Mexico City Series against the Diamondbacks.

Harp Helú, whose 15% stake is the second-largest share held by any of the Padres’ minority owners,  has spoken with Feliciano via Zoom. Their meeting this weekend is expected to result in Harp Helú remaining part of the ownership group.

“We are going to conserve what we bought,” Harp Helú said. “We won’t sell our spot. It’s very important because of the relationship with San Diego and Diablos Rojos is very important for baseball in Mexico.”

Feliciano and his wife, Kwanza Jones, are purchasing approximately 40% of the Padres in a deal that values the team at a record $3.9 billion. The sale, which is expected to be officially announced soon, is subject to approval by 75% of the 29 other team owners.

Harp Helú, who owns the Mexico City Red Devils Diablos Rojos and Oaxaca Guerreros of the Liga Mexicana de Béisbol, bought into the Padres at the invitation of Peter O’Malley, the uncle of late Padres chairman Peter Seidler and current chairman John Seidler. Their friendship dates to the 1980s, when O’Malley owned the Dodgers.

Harp Helú said he watches almost every Padres game on television.

“The Padres have a very good team, and maybe they can (win) the World Series,” he said. “The Dodgers are terrible.”

Harp Helú is serving as a de facto host this weekend for Padres executives and members of the ownership group.

Among them were several members of the Seidler family, most of whom are retaining at least a portion of their ownership stakes.

Miller time

Mason Miller set the record it seemed was inevitable he would break, even if it is impossible to assume such a thing.

With his 1-2-3 ninth inning Saturday, the Padres’ closer pushed his scoreless streak to 34⅔ scoreless innings, one more than Cla Meredith’s franchise-record streak set 20 years ago.

“I think passing Randy (Jones, 30⅔ innings in 1980) and getting to talk about him, and ultimately passing Cla too,” Miller said, “Just reflecting back on Padres history, now I’m a part of that. I think that’s pretty awesome.”

Miller also expressed some relief, if only because he is weary of addressing the matter almost every day.

“It’s a big load off, for sure,” he said. “I think we can stop talking about it now and just keep pitching and see how long we can go.”

Miller’s streak is the longest in the major leagues since Zac Gallen went 44⅓ innings in 2022 and the longest by a relief pitcher since Josh Hader went 38 innings from Aug. 1, 2021, to June 5, 2022.

The streak is the eighth-longest by a reliever in the Expansion Era (1961).

But going back to the Aug. 5, 2025, appearance in which he last allowed a run, his first out Saturday gave him 34 innings without allowing a run. And in that time, he struck out 70 batters and allowed seven hits. He is the only pitcher in the Expansion Era to record at least 34 scoreless innings while striking out at least 70 batters, and the only one to go that long without allowing a run while allowing fewer than 10 hits.

“Big-league hitters, he makes them look funny,” Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts said. “I mean, you can look funny on one pitch, but sometimes he makes them look funny on all three. Yeah, he’s special.”

Song arrives

The Padres called up infielder Sung-Mun Song to fill the extra spot on their roster allowed when playing outside the United States.

“It is a dream for me,” Song said through interpreter Juneseo Yi. “It might be two days for this series, but I will do whatever I can to help the team. … It’s really cool for me to debut in Mexico. And hopefully we go back to Petco and play games at the big-league field too.”

Song is expected to serve as a left-handed bat off the bench while in Mexico. It is not clear what the immediate plan will be for Song when the Padres leave here. Nick Castellanos has one hit in his past 25 at-bats, and his time with the Padres could be coming to an end.

Song, signed in December out of South Korea, seemed to be on track to possibly join the Padres when he aggravated an oblique injury in early March and was shut down for nearly three weeks. He began the season on the injured list and was optioned to Triple-A when his rehab assignment was finished.

The Padres have used the time to allow Song to play shortstop, which he never did in the KBO, and to adjust to the higher velocity and quicker speed of the game in the United States, even at Triple-A.

Song hit .333 (12-for-36) over his past nine games at Triple-A, including a 6-for-13 run in his final three games.

“I was struggling last week in Triple-A,” he said. “But a couple days before coming to Mexico, I was getting into the rhythm, getting quality at-bats. So I’m pretty confident.”