Friday night’s game at Petco Park was far from a stellar display of baseball, a fact that might not surprise anyone considering the involvement of the 2024 White Sox.

Nonetheless, the Padres are playoff-bound, and Friday’s performance didn’t derail that trajectory. In fact, the Padres moved two steps closer to securing their spot with a 3-2, 10-inning win, albeit with a lingering issue to address.

Fernando Tatis Jr.’s double in extra innings, which brought home Brandon Lockridge from second base, sealed the victory. However, the game shouldn’t have required that walk-off moment, as closer Robert Suarez gave up a two-out, two-run homer to Lenyn Sosa in the ninth, pushing the game into extra innings. It marked the third time in six outings that Suarez has surrendered a critical home run in the ninth inning, casting doubts on his reliability moving forward. Over his last 10 appearances, he’s allowed runs in half of them.

The Padres now face a decision: stick with Suarez or turn to Tanner Scott as their closer. Manager Mike Shildt hinted at weighing the options: “We’ve got three solid guys at the back, and we’ll keep evaluating. I think Suarez might need to throw in something different to right-handed batters.”

Suarez, however, wasn’t overly concerned: “It’s part of the game. We got the win, and that’s what counts.”

Thanks to Tatis’ timely hit off reliever Justin Anderson, the Padres’ playoff hopes remain intact. With eight games left in the regular season, they are just three combined wins or Braves losses away from clinching a postseason berth, which could happen as early as Sunday’s home finale.

Once White Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet hit his inning limit, the Padres started to resemble the team that leads MLB in batting average. A string of two-out hits broke a scoreless tie in the sixth inning, with singles from Jurickson Profar and Manny Machado, followed by a Jackson Merrill blooper double.

Up until that point, the Padres had been playing like they might lose to a White Sox team on the verge of tying the 1962 Mets’ infamous 120-loss season record. At 36-118, the White Sox found ways to get runners into scoring position, but couldn’t capitalize. An error by shortstop Xander Bogaerts in the first inning and a fifth-inning double off a rare missed play by Machado provided some opportunities, but nothing came of them.

Meanwhile, the Padres got some help in their playoff push when news broke that the Braves had lost to the Marlins, while the Mets dropped a game behind the Diamondbacks in the wild-card race.

For most of the game, it was a pitcher’s duel between Crochet and Padres starter Joe Musgrove. Musgrove delivered six scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and racking up nine strikeouts. Jason Adam and Tanner Scott each pitched scoreless innings, while Adrián Morejón handled the top of the 10th.

Through four innings, Musgrove was solid with six strikeouts and only two hits allowed. Yet, even his strong performance was overshadowed by Crochet’s dominance on the mound. Crochet, who struck out the side twice and recorded eight strikeouts in four innings, was efficient with just 52 pitches.

Despite Crochet’s brilliance, the White Sox have been cautious with his workload, given that he’s in his first season as a full-time starter. Having exceeded his previous innings high, the team has capped his pitch count for the past two months. Friday marked his 12th consecutive start with fewer than five innings, despite being regarded as one of the best pitchers earlier in the season.

Crochet limited the Padres to just one hit—a single by Jake Cronenworth in the third—before handing things over to the bullpen. The Padres, however, fared better against the six White Sox relievers that followed, managing nine hits, with the last being Tatis’ game-winner.

Now, with two more wins and a Braves loss, the Padres are poised to clinch their playoff spot. “It would be amazing to clinch at home,” Tatis said. “Baseball can be unpredictable, but we’ll find a way to get it done.”