The Padres moved closer to what has for a while seemed like an inevitable postseason berth.
The White Sox moved closer to what has for even longer seemed like inevitable infamy.
Two teams that will spend the final week of the season toiling toward divergent ends played Saturday night at Petco Park, with the Padres winning 6-2.
The victory kept the Padres two games ahead of the Diamondbacks in the race for the National League’s top wild-card spot.
It was the 119th loss for the White Sox, putting them one shy of the major league record held by the 1962 Mets.
No matter what happens Sunday, the White Sox will not suffer the double indignity of tying the dubious record and having to watch the Padres celebrate.
The Padres can clinch a playoff berth Sunday if they win and the Braves and Mets lose their respective games.
But the Padres and White Sox play at 1:10 p.m., and the Mets’ game against the Phillies is not scheduled to start until 4 p.m. PT. So even if the first two results go the Padres’ way, they would not know whether they are definitely playoff-bound until Sunday night.
The Padres just keep winning to make it all seem like just a matter of time.
It didn’t take all that much Saturday beyond two-run homers by Xander Bogaerts and Elías Diaz, a solo home run by David Peralta and an RBI single by Jackson Merrill.
Left-hander Martín Pérez continued to do enough for the Padres, who improved to 8-1 in his nine starts since he was acquired from the Pirates in a July 30 trade
Pérez was lifted Saturday after allowing a run when he hit a batter, walked a batter and yielded an RBI single in succession with one out in the sixth.
Bryan Hoeing replaced him and retired the next two batters. Jeremiah Estrada worked a 1-2-3 seventh. Jason Adam loaded the bases with one out on a walk, single and hit batter and then walked in a run before being replaced by Tanner Scott, who got an inning-ending double play on his second pitch and then worked a scoreless ninth for the five-out save.
Saturday was the sixth time Pérez went at least five innings and allowed no more than a run, as he lowered his ERA to 2.42 with the Padres.
Not much more is needed to explain how overmatched the White Sox are than that they are on the verge of setting a new standard for awfulness.
But there was also the fact Andrew Vaughn, at 102, was the only player in their lineup either of the past two days with an OPS-plus above 93. An OPS-plus of 100 indicates league-average production, and the Padres had seven players at 101 or higher in Saturday’s lineup.
So Pérez pretty much did what most pitchers have against the White Sox.
And the Padres offense did what most teams have against White Sox starter Chris Flexen (2-15, 5.15) in his five innings, as Chicago fell to 4-28 in his starts this season.
Bogaerts’ blast in the second followed a lead-off single by Merrill. Peralta’s one-out homer in the fourth made it 3-0. And after Profar led off the fifth with a double, Merrill drove him in with a one-out single. Díaz’s homer came off Enyel De Los Santos, who began the season with the Padres before being traded to the Yankees in July and being claimed off waivers by the White Sox in August.
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