I don’t know that there was any better way to announce to the world that the San Diego Padres are here to stick around. The Friars took Game 1 of the three-game set against the Chicago Cubs in spectacular fashion, scoring eight runs while limiting the Cubs to zero. It’s the biggest postseason shutout in franchise history. Starter Michael King pitched seven dominant innings, taking a no-hitter into the seventh before it was broken up on a liner to third base.
The offense went off, with Fernando Tatis
Jr. homering on the first pitch before captain Manny Machado went yard a moment later. Nothing could have set the stage better for a series sweep than last night’s game. Tonight, San Diego will attempt to reverse their 2025 fates and beat the Cubs to advance to the NLDS. It would be their first appearance in the Division Series since 2022 against the rival Los Angeles Dodgers.
Taking the mound
Kevin Gausman (CHC) v. Nick Pivetta (SD)
To say that Gausman has struggled since being traded to the Cubs would be an understatement. He was already struggling with the Toronto Blue Jays (4.38 ERA) before being traded to the North Siders and authoring a 4.83 ERA across nine starts. He looked good at the beginning of his tenure, but slowly started to struggle. In his final three starts of the season, Gausman surrendered 10 runs (15.1 IP).
The right-hander pitched quite well against San Diego when he last faced them as a Blue Jay. He twirled six innings of three-run ball in a no-decision that eventually became a Padres victory. What bit him were the walks. Gausman has an abnormally high 1.27 WHIP. Despite his fantastic stuff (184 K’s), he’s volatile. If the Friars sit and wait, they’ll get their pitch sooner or later.
Pivetta has been nails since returning from the injured list at the beginning of September. In four starts since then, the righty has authored a 1.45 ERA (18.2 IP). It’s not an abundant amount of work to draw from, but he’s looked dominant since his return. If that can continue against Chicago tonight, it would be a massive advantage for San Diego.
The right-hander is also coming off of a sterling outing against one of baseball’s best offenses in the Dodgers. His final start of the regular season came against the NL West rivals, with Pivetta twirling 4 2/3 scoreless innings. Should he be able to similarly stymie the Cubs, the bullpen won’t have too many outs to cover. That would give the Friars a major leg up in a potential NLDS appearance.
Batter up!
The offense was rocking last night, tagging Chicago starter Matthew Boyd for fours runs in as many innings. Xander Bogaerts, Machado and Tatis all homered off of the lefty. The Cubs’ bullpen was mostly solid, but gave up four more runs to San Diego in the fifth and seventh innings.
- Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
- Dustin Harris, LF
- Manny Machado, 3B
- Ty France, 1B
- Jackson Merrill, CF
- Luis Campusano, DH
- Xander Bogaerts, SS
- Jake Cronenworth, 2B
- Ethan Salas, C
The Padres’ big four (Bogaerts, Machado, Jackson Merrill and Tatis) combined to go 8-for-14 (.571) last night with two walks, six RBIs and six runs scored. San Diego will likely go as far as their stars can take them. If they continue to get this level of production from them (or even a semblance of it), they’ll be well on their way to where they want to be.
Relief corps
King told reporters on Monday afternoon that he had no interest in turning the ball over to the bullpen. He was almost entirely true to his word. He pitched seven one-hit innings of scoreless ball before Yuki Matsui and Joe Musgrove (yes, you read that right) pitched the final two innings. Matsui pitched a perfect eighth before Musgrove navigated some trouble in his first big-league appearance in almost exactly two years.
That allows the bullpen to be fresh for tonight. Should the wheels fall off with Pivetta, the Friars are equipped with more than enough capable arms to fill out the remaining innings. Jason Adam, Mason Miller, David Morgan, Adrian Morejon, Robbie Ray and Bradgley Rodriguez are available for manager Craig Stammen to turn to. That said, Ray seems unlikely to pitch in relief given his experience as a starter.
