Miguel Vargas hit a two-run homer and Davis Martin pitched six strong innings as the Chicago White Sox snapped a six-game losing streak with a 4-3 win over the visiting San Diego Padres on Friday.
Martin (7-10) allowed three runs on six hits for the White Sox (58-96), who won the opener of the three-game series despite being outhit 7-4. The right-hander struck out four and walked one.
Jordan Leasure and Brandon Eisert combined for two scoreless innings before Grant Taylor retired the Padres in order in the ninth, fanning two, for his fifth save.
San Diego (83-71) lost for the third time in four games and fell 3 1/2 games behind the first-place Dodgers in the National League West, pending Los Angeles’ late result against the San Francisco Giants. The Padres hold a three-game lead over the New York Mets for the second NL wild-card spot with eight games remaining.
Vargas put the White Sox ahead in the first inning with a two-run shot against Dylan Cease (8-12). The 371-foot blast was Vargas’ 15th homer of the season and second since the start of August.
San Diego got on the board in the third inning. With two runners on and two outs, Jake Cronenworth scored from second on Luis Arraez’s single.
The Padres pulled even in the fourth on Ryan O’Hearn’s run-scoring single before Chicago regained the lead in the bottom half of the inning after two batters were hit by pitches. Curtis Mead put Chicago ahead 3-2 with a two-out, run-scoring single and Will Robertson followed with an RBI single.
San Diego cut into the deficit with a run in the sixth inning. Ramon Laureano hit a one-out double, stole third base and scored on Gavin Sheets’ groundout.
Martin was nearly matched by Cease, who was with the White Sox from 2019-23 before he was traded to the Padres weeks before the start of the 2024 season.
Cease gave up four runs on four hits over six innings in his first start against his former team. He walked three and struck out six.
Chicago second baseman Chase Meidroth went 0-for-4, ending his career-high 13-game hitting streak.
