Xander Bogaerts, Elias Díaz and David Peralta all homered Saturday to help the Padres win 6-2 and move closer to a playoff spot.
The White Sox, though, continued their historic show of futility, tying the American League record with their 119th loss.
Chicago (36-119) matched the AL mark set by the 2003 Detroit Tigers, who finished 43-119. One more defeat for over the White Sox’s final seven games would equal the post-1900 record of 120 losses by the 1962 expansion New York Mets.
The Padres also handed the White Sox their 20th straight loss in a road series.
The Friars (89-66) maintained a two-game lead over Arizona for the top National League wild card spot while reducing their magic number to two for clinching their second playoff berth in three seasons.
Bogaerts gave the Padres a 2-0 lead with his shot to left-center with no outs in the second inning off Chris Flexen. His 11th homer came with rookie Jackson Merrill aboard after a leadoff single.
Peralta homered with one out in the third, his eighth. Merrill, considered by some the front-runner for NL Rookie of the Year, hit an RBI single in the fifth.
Díaz hit a two-run shot in the eighth off former Padres reliever Enyel De Los Santos, his sixth homer of the year.
Martín Pérez (5-5) held Chicago to one run and two hits in 5.1 innings, struck out six and walked three. Tanner Scott secured five outs for his 22nd save.
Flexen (2-15) allowed four runs and eight hits in five innings, and is now winless in his last 23 starts.
Yu Darvish (6-3, 3.21) takes the mound in the final home game of the regular season Sunday against the White Sox’s Sean Burke (1-0, 2.25 ERA). NL West showdowns loom as they head to Los Angeles, then Arizona to finish the season.