Major League Baseball adopted the best-of-three game Wild Card format in 2022. Since then the team that wins Game 1 has won the series. Every. Single. Time. So, that should add some context to just how vital the Padres 3-1 loss to the Cubs in Game 1 of their National League Wild Card series at Wrigley Field is. San Diego is one win away from elimination in a format that has never been kind to teams trying to overcome a deficit. The Padres got on the board in the 2nd inning. Jackson Merrill led off with a double and scored when Xander Bogaerts doubled right behind him. An errant throw sent Bogaerts to 3rd base with nobody out. But, San Diego’s trouble with situational hitting came back to bite them again. Ryan O’Hearn grounded out on a nice diving play by shortstop Dansby Swanson and Gavin Sheets popped out to 3rd base, squandering two chances to being in the run with a productive out. Jake Cronenworth grounded out to end the inning and strand Bogaerts at 3rd. San Diego missed another chance to get a run in the 4th inning. With runners at the corners and one out, O’Hearn hit a flare towards left-centerfield and was robbed again on a nice running catch by Swanson. Three chances with a runner at 3rd and less than two outs, all of them unsuccessful. For a while it looked like they’d be able to get away with it because Nick Pivetta was on cruise control. He allowed just one baserunner through the first four innings while striking out six. In the 5th inning he finally made a mistake, leaving a fastball in the middle of the strike zone to Seiya Suzuki and the slugger didn’t miss. Suzuki ripped it 424 feet into the bleacher bums to tie it 1-1. Up next was Carson Kelly. Pivetta made a pretty good pitch, getting the fastball above the strike zone. Kelly just made a better swing, getting enough to drop it just over the basket in left for another solo shot and a 2-1 Chicago lead. It’s the first time the Cubs have hit back-to-back home runs in a postseason game since 2016, the year they last won the World Series. Pivetta bounced back to strike out the next three hitters and finish his start with just three runs allowed and nine punchouts through 5.0 innings. He did his job and gave the Padres a chance to win. His offense couldn’t do it. Starter Matt Boyd was pulled after just 4.1 innings and the Cubs bullpen combo of Daniel Palencia, Drew Pomeranz, Andrew Kittredge, and Brad Keller combined to retire 14 straight San Diego hitters to end it, bringing back memories of the 2024 Division Series when the Padres were shut out in back-to-back games by the Dodgers. Chicago got an insurance run in the 8th when Nico Hoerner brought in Dansby Swanson with a sacrifice fly, the exact thing the Padres could not do earlier in the game. Dylan Cease gets the ball for Game 2 on Wednesday afternoon and he’ll be trying to rewrite his postseason history. In three career playoff starts, including two last year against the Dodgers in the National League Division Series, Cease has only lasted 7.2 total innings and allowed 11 runs. They’ll need him to be at his best to keep their season alive.
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