Nick Martinez struck out eight batters in five scoreless innings, and the San Diego Padres held on for a 3-2 win over the host Chicago White Sox on Friday night.
Martinez notched a season high in strikeouts to help San Diego (80-80) win its third consecutive game. Trent Grisham tallied two RBIs and Xander Bogaerts had one.
Yoan Moncada and Carlos Perez each homered for Chicago (61-99).
Five relievers helped preserve the lead for Martinez (6-4), who earned his first win since Aug. 5. Martinez allowed two hits and walked two before giving way to the bullpen.
Padres closer Josh Hader allowed a solo homer in the ninth but regrouped to earn his 33rd save.
White Sox right-hander Dylan Cease (7-9) took the loss despite allowing one run on four hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out seven.
The game remained scoreless until the top of the fifth inning, when the Padres grabbed a 1-0 lead on a series of White Sox miscues.
Cease struck out Matthew Batten on a wild pitch, and Batten made it to second base as catcher Korey Lee chased after the ball. Moments later, Cease threw another wild pitch that allowed Batten to advance to third base.
Bogaerts hit a line-drive sacrifice fly to right field to drive in Batten.
San Diego tacked on two more runs in the sixth to increase its lead to 3-0. Brett Sullivan and Batten drew back-to-back, two-out walks, and Grisham drove in both of them with a double to center field.
The White Sox had a prime scoring opportunity in the seventh. They loaded the bases with one out, but Tim Anderson flied out to right field and Andrew Benintendi grounded out to first.
Moncada finally put Chicago on the scoreboard with a solo blast in the eighth. The 415-foot shot to right-center field marked his 11th homer of the season.
Perez followed with a solo homer in the ninth to cut Chicago’s deficit to 3-2. It marked the first career home run for the 27-year-old Perez.
–Field Level Media