Padres’ playoff push demands wins over AL cellar-dwellers

The San Diego Padres must take advantage of their series against the Chicago White Sox. Taking on the AL Central bottom dwellers is exactly what the Padres need to gain ground on the Dodgers and take control in the NL West.

The Dodgers play the Giants, Diamondbacks, and red-hot Mariners to finish the season. That's not an easy nine-game stretch. San Diego, while three games back, still can catch Los Angeles and win the West if they play good baseball down the stretch.

Padres can’t afford missteps against White Sox with October on the line

The Padres can probably afford one, maybe two more losses if they are serious about finishing first in the West, and gaining the home-field advantage it comes with. They really can not afford to waste one of those losses against the White Sox.

While Chicago is not as bad as they were in seasons past, the White Sox are still not a good team. San Diego has more star power on offense and better depth all around. There is no world where the White Sox stack up even close to the Padres.

The next two games also present an opportunity for Padres' starters Yu Darvish and Michael King to get right before the postseason.

Neither Darvish nor King has looked great since both pitchers came off the IL late in the summer. But if San Diego is going to make a deep playoff run this year, they are going to need both Darvish and King to turn things around in October.

That can start this weekend, with games against a weak White Sox lineup. It would be nice for both pitchers to go six innings and surrender less than three runs. Not only would it boost their confidence, but it would boost the team's confidence in them going into the playoffs.

San Diego knows what it needs to do to win the division, and beating the White Sox is the first step to getting there.

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