The Cubs’ 3-1 win over the Padres in Game 1 of their Wild Card series was really the way you might have drawn it up.
Good starting pitching. Solid defense. A couple of home runs. And then… a lockdown bullpen that retired the last 12 Padres in a row and 18 of the last 19. Just outstanding work all the way around.
Matthew Boyd got touched up for a run in the second inning on a couple of doubles by Jackson Merrill and Xander Bogaerts. It might have been more if not for this excellent defensive play by Dansby
Swanson [VIDEO].
The Cubs, though, could do nothing with Nick Pivetta through four innings. They had just one hit, a one-out single by Nico Hoerner in the second, in that span and struck out six times.
Swanson made another nice play with two runners on and one out in the fourth [VIDEO].
Boyd was lifted with one out in the top of the fifth for, surprise, Daniel Palencia. Craig Counsell appeared to be playing matchups here and it worked, as Palencia entered with a runner on first and one out, not a usual situation for him, and retired the next two hitters.
Then the Cubs played long ball with Pivetta. Seiya Suzuki tied the game 1-1 with a leadoff homer in the fifth [VIDEO].
That ball was crushed! [VIDEO]
Six pitches later, the Cubs had the lead when Carson Kelly homered [VIDEO].
That video clip does not do justice to how loud Wrigley Field was after Kelly’s homer. That’s why you go to postseason games — to experience that sort of crowd reaction. The 39,114 in attendance had been kind of quiet for the first couple of innings, but the homers got everyone really jazzed up.
More on the back-to-back jacks from BCB’s JohnW53:
Based on a quick check, the Cubs had hit back-to-back home runs in a post-season game only twice before, both also at home:
2015 NLDS Game 3 vs. Cardinals: fifth inning, one out, Kris Bryant (two-run) and Anthony Rizzo
2016 NLCS Game 1 vs. Dodgers, eighth inning, two out: Miguel Montero (grand slam) and Dexter Fowler (next pitch)
After that it was all the Cubs pen, with Palencia throwing a 1-2-3 sixth, Drew Pomeranz a 1-2-3 seventh, Andrew Kittredge a 1-2-3 eighth and Brad Keller finishing up.
In the interim, the Cubs put an insurance run on the board in the eighth. Swanson led off with a single and Matt Shaw sacrificed him to second. Michael Busch was intentionally walked — this is getting to be a habit, his second IBB in three games. The Padres obviously were trying to set up a double play, but that plan was foiled by Nico, who plated Swanson with this sac fly [VIDEO].
So then it was up to Keller, who retired Manny Machado on a grounder to short and got Merrill to fly to center.
Here’s the final out, a strikeout of Bogaerts [VIDEO].
Good stuff all the way around. Here’s Kelly on his homer [VIDEO].
Here are some postgame comments from Nico Hoerner [VIDEO].
A note on this Game 1 win from John:
This was just the Cubs’ fourth win in 14 Game Ones of post-season series that they have played at home. They were 0-3-1 before routing the Padres, 13-0, to begin the 1984 League Championship Series. Their two other wins before today were in 2016: 1-0 over the Giants in the Division Series and 8-4 over the Dodgers in the Championship Series.
Here are some postgame comments from Counsell on the bullpen’s great work:
And just announced for Game 2:
I assume he’ll be followed by Shōta Imanaga, though that has not been officially announced. Dylan Cease will start for the Padres. Game time for Game 2 Wednesday afternoon is again 2:08 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via ABC (check local listings — in Chicago that’s WLS-ABC7).
One more win and it’s on to Milwaukee.
