Sep 30, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; San Diego Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts (2) slides safely into third base after a throwing error made by the Chicago Cubs in the second inning during game one of the Wildcard round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images
Chicago, Illinois – The Padres actually struck first. Rookie Jackson Merrill ripped a leadoff double in the second inning and jogged home when Xander Bogaerts followed with a double of his own. Bogaerts advanced to third on an errant throw, setting San Diego up with nobody out and a chance to add on. Instead, the bats went cold. Ryan O’Hearn grounded out on a diving play by Dansby Swanson, Gavin Sheets popped out, and Jake Cronenworth grounded out to leave Bogaerts stranded.
That inning set the tone. In the fourth, San Diego again put runners at the corners with one out, only to see Swanson make a highlight-reel running catch to rob O’Hearn. Three different times the Padres had a man on third with fewer than two outs. Three different times they came up empty.
“Everybody knows how big those situations are,” Fernando Tatis Jr. said after the game. “We’ve just got to do better in those situations.”
Nick Pivetta deserved better. The right-hander carved through Chicago’s lineup early, retiring 11 straight at one point and striking out nine in five innings. But in the fifth, with one pitch left over the plate, the game shifted.
Seiya Suzuki crushed a 424-foot homer to tie it, and on the very next pitch Carson Kelly followed with a towering shot of his own. Just like that, a 1-0 Padres lead was a 2-1 deficit, and the Cubs’ crowd of 39,000 roared to life.
Chicago’s bullpen took it from there. Matthew Boyd, Daniel Palencia, Drew Pomeranz, Andrew Kittredge, and Brad Keller combined to allow just two hits the rest of the way, striking out six.
The Cubs haven’t won a postseason series since 2017, but with Tuesday’s victory, they’re one win away from ending that drought. Meanwhile, the Padres find themselves staring at elimination, a position this Wild Card format has offered no escape from.
San Diego will send Dylan Cease to the mound Wednesday afternoon at Wrigley in what amounts to a must-win game. To extend their season, the Padres need timely hitting — the kind they lacked in Game 1 — and the kind that has so often defined October baseball.
“Right off the bat, I thought that one was going to fall,” manager Mike Shildt said of Swanson’s game-saving catch. “But he made the play. That’s playoff baseball. One swing, one catch, one moment can change everything.”
Now, the Padres have one day to change their October fate.
