It’s the first game of a postseason series.
The first batter of the home team smashes a home run. One out later, the third home team hitter also homers, and that home team is on its way to a blowout shutout .
Oh, you think I’m talking about last night’s disaster, the 8-0 Cubs loss to the Padres. While the above are absolutely facts in evidence from Tuesday’s game, they also apply to a different Cubs/Padres postseason game, the first game of the 1984 NLCS at Wrigley Field. Bob Dernier led off the first inning
with a home run for the Cubs, and one out later Gary Matthews also homered, two of the five home runs the Cubs smacked that afternoon on their way to a 13-0 crushing of the Padres.
And you know what happened in that series. Anyway.
Remember what I wrote about Matthew Boyd in the preview to this game?
Boyd allowed three runs in five innings to the Padres June 30 at Wrigley Field, including home runs by Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado. Hold those two guys down and this could be a good game for Boyd.
Welp. Those are the exact guys who homered in the first inning off Boyd, and no, this was not a good game for the Cubs left-hander.
Oh, I also wrote this:
Boyd has a 1.66 ERA in seven postseason games (six starts) covering 21.2 innings. He has never allowed a postseason home run.
So much for that.
I want to show you the home run by Tatis [VIDEO].
Pete Crow-Armstrong made a valiant effort to catch that ball, but came up just short. It would have been a fantastic catch, to be sure. But that’s not why I wanted to show you that play. This is why:
What on Earth were they thinking there? A first-pitch changeup? Right in the sweet spot, basically? smh
Everyone pretty much could have gone home right then, because the Cubs offense, the best in MLB during the regular season, did not bother to show up for this game. They were no-hit through six innings by Michael King, until Nico Hoerner broke up any idea of a postseason no-hitter with one out in the seventh. I’ll get back to that.
Machado then hit his home run to make it 2-0, and he also doubled in a run in the third off Boyd.
After the Cubs had erased a Padres baserunner in the fourth on a double play, Xander Bogaerts homered to make it 4-0. You had the sense at this point that the game was over, right? During the regular season:
Cubs record when allowing three or more home runs: 12-14
Cubs record in all other games: 77-59
So, yeah.
Javier Assad relieved Boyd to begin the fifth and things didn’t go any better. After a leadoff single by Luis Campusano, Assad retired the next two Padres. Good, right? Yes, but then he walked Machado and Ty France singled to load the bases.
Ryan Rolison entered the game to face the left-handed hitting Jackson Merrill. Welp. That didn’t work, Merrill singled in two runs and it was 6-0. The seventh Padres run scored on a passed ball charged to Carson Kelly.
If you’re getting the feeling that absolutely nothing the Cubs did in this game worked properly, you have summed up Game 1 in one sentence. Nevertheless, I shall continue.
As noted, King entered the seventh inning having not allowed the Cubs a hit. They’d had four baserunners up to that point. Only two of those four got past first base:
- Seiya Suzuki reached second base on an error leading off the second
- Pete Crow-Armstrong walked with two out in the third. He stole second. So, yay?
- Suzuki walked with one out in the fourth
- Michael Busch walked with two out in the sixth
A good offensive display, this was not.
Ian Happ flied out to lead off the seventh.
That brought up Nico [VIDEO].
Machado misplayed the ball after fielding it, but he wouldn’t have thrown out Hoerner anyway, and that was the Cubs’ first hit. In case you were wondering (Bluesky link):
The Padres put across their eighth and final run against Aaron Civale in the bottom of the seventh. Tatis beat out an infield hit and stole second, and when Kelly’s throw went into center field, Tatis didn’t stop running and scored [VIDEO].
The Cubs did mount a bit of a rally in the ninth against Joe Musgrove, who was a somewhat surprising addition to the Padres postseason roster. He hadn’t pitched in a MLB game since Oct. 2, 2024, a wild card game against the Braves.
With one out, Suzuki singled, the Cubs’ second hit. Happ walked and Hoerner singled to load the bases. Down 8-0, this wasn’t likely to amount to much and it did not, when Pedro Ramirez popped up and pinch-hitter Michael Conforto was called out on strikes to end the game.
This was just an old-fashioned beatdown. You know, kind of like what the Cubs did to the Padres in that game 42 years ago. A couple of game facts from BCB’s JohnW53:
Pete Crow-Armstrong and Alex Bregman both struck out three times.
PCA did it 15 times in the regular season, most of any Cub. Seiya Suzuki did it 13 times; Ian Happ, 12; Michael Busch, eight; Michael Conforto, six; and Bregman, just four.
Six others combined to do it 12 times, for a team total of 70 times.
…..
PCA did it twice in the post-season last year. He is the first Cub to do it three times in career post-season games. Javier Baez, Kris Bryant, Willson Contreras, Addison Russell and Dansby Swanson each did it twice.
One more not-so-fun fact about this game: It was the 12th time the Cubs had been shut out in 132 total postseason games, and the most runs they’d ever allowed in a postseason shutout loss. Previous record: Six, twice: Game 3 of the 2016 NLCS and Game 1 of the 2016 World Series. Those two series worked out okay.
Here are Craig Counsell’s postgame remarks [VIDEO].
Counsell said that was a good pitch to Tatis in the first inning. Respectfully, I disagree.
I came across this fact during the day Tuesday and it does not bode well for the Cubs:
Nevertheless, the games still have to be played and, hopefully, the absent Cubs offense will show up Wednesday. Kevin Gausman, who has extensive postseason experience and who was very good last year for the Blue Jays in October, will start for the Cubs. Nick Pivetta goes for the Padres. Game time is again scheduled for 9 p.m. CT (first pitch around 9:10) and the game will again be on Peacock and NBC Sports Network.
It’s win or go home. Go Cubs.
