The San Diego Padres dropped its series opener against the Chicago White Sox 8-2 after surrendering a six-spot in the second inning.
The San Diego Padres didn’t begin May how it would’ve liked to, suffering an 8-2 blowout loss in its series opener against the Chicago White Sox Friday night.
The Padres loaded the bases in the first inning with walks from Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts but failed to take advantage of the free passes. The next half inning, the White Sox exploded for six runs, and it was capped off by a three-run moonshot homer off the bat of Major League Baseball’s home run leader Munetaka Murakami.
Chicago would add on with a run in the fifth and eighth innings to go up 8-0 before the Padres finally broke through. San Diego scored twice in the bottom of the eighth, but it was too little too late.
White Sox rookie lefty Noah Schultz dominated after walking the bases loaded in the first, allowing just two hits with two strikeouts over his next five innings of work. Padres veteran right-hander German Marquez got shelled by Chicago’s pesky offense, allowing seven runs on five hits and five walks while striking out two in five innings, raising his ERA to 5.76.
Game two of the series will feature a matchup of Chicago right-hander Sean Burke and San Diego right-hander Michael King.
Burke has been one of the White Sox’s better pitchers this season despite his 1-2 record. The 26-year-old has a 3.21 ERA and 1.04 WHIP through six appearances (four starts, 33.2 innings) and is being rewarded with a start after going 7.1 scoreless innings with four strikeouts in relief his last time out.
Chicago’s biggest issue has been its bullpen, so if the Padres can get Burke out of the game early, it has a good chance of getting back in the win column. It will certainly help if King can silence the White Sox bats, too.
King re-signed with the Padres in the offseason and he’s been the anchor for San Diego’s thin starting rotation. The 30-year-old is 3-1 with a 2.41 ERA (11th) and 1.04 WHIP with 34 strikeouts through six starts (33.2 innings). King has just one start this season in which he allowed more than two runs, and it came at the beginning of last month.
San Diego’s ace has been dialed in and the team has needed him to step up in a huge way, especially with righty Nick Pivetta on the injured list.
The Padres are on a three-game losing streak and have lost four of its last five coming into play Saturday.
First pitch is at 5:40 p.m. PDT on MLB.TV and regional sports networks.