Padres 9, White Sox 8: San Diego rallies with ninth inning grand slam

In a roller coaster of a game, the Padres (4-4) beat the White Sox (6-6) in a high-scoring, 9-8 matchup.

Lucas Giolito started on the mound for the South Siders, and he did his job well, pitching 3 ²⁄₃ shutout innings. San Diego did make him work for those shutout innings, however, as six Padres reached base safely against him. The Padres managed a double, two singles, and three walks against Giolito, though Giolito missed a lot of bats, as he struck out five.

The offense got off to a slow start in the first, but Eloy Jiménez wasted no time getting things started in the second.

That home run was Eloy’s second of spring training, and it gave the White Sox a 1-0 lead. Later in the inning, Adam Engel singled, and catcher Nick Ciuffo drove him in with an RBI double to double the South Siders’ lead.

Thanks to scoreless relief appearances from Andrew Perez and Tyler Johnson, the White Sox maintained a two-run lead until the top of the sixth. However, the Padres’ bats woke up after Garrett Crochet took over on the mound. Though Crochet opened up his appearance with back-to-back strikeouts, this game turned out to be a setback for him. With two outs, Jorge Alfaro homered, and CJ Abrams singled. Then, a throwing error by Zack Collins allowed Abrams to advance to second. Domingo Leyba took advantage of his opportunity with a runner in scoring position by hitting an RBI single to tie the game at two.

The game was not tied for long, though, as the White Sox retook the lead in the bottom of the sixth. With one out, Gavin Sheets doubled, and Jiménez drove him in with a single to make the score 3-2.

Like the top of the sixth, the top of the seventh was also a struggle for the White Sox. Jackson Merrill led off that inning, and he reached on a fielding error by Crochet. Then, old friend Trayce Thompson and Taylor Kohlwey drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. Crochet nearly worked out of the jam, as he struck out back-to-back hitters. But, Luis Liberato ensured that Crochet did not escape, as he cleared the bases with a double. Brandon Finnegan took over and stopped the bleeding with a quick strikeout, but by that point, San Diego had a 5-3 lead.

Once again, though, the White Sox had an immediate answer. Adam Engel led off the bottom of the seventh with a single, and Joel Booker followed with a two-run blast to tie the game at five. Then, singles by Laz Rivera, Zack Collins, and Gavin Sheets were enough to put the White Sox ahead again. The bases were loaded after Alex Destino drew a walk, and another walk to Patrick Kivlehan forced in a run. The South Siders added one more insurance run on a ground out by Leury García to make it 8-5.

However, as it turned out, the White Sox did not have enough insurance to cruise to a victory. While Jimmy Lambert pitched a perfect eighth inning, the ninth inning was far from ideal for righthander Yacksel Ríos. While Ríos struck out the first batter he faced, the next four opposing Padres reached base safely. After two walks and a single, the bases were loaded with one out, and Luis Campusano stepped up to bat. In a high-leverage situation, Campusano took advantage of a mistake from Ríos and launched a grand slam to give San Diego a late lead. That lead would not relinquish, as the White Sox went down quietly in the bottom of the ninth.

The South Siders are off tomorrow, but they will face the Rangers on Wednesday at 3:05 p.m. CST. We will see you then.