For the first time since 2017, the Chicago Cubs are moving on in the postseason.
The Cubs used an early lead and stellar pitching to beat the San Diego Padres 3-1 on Thursday in Game 3 of the wild-card series to advance to the National League Division Series against the Milwaukee Brewers, their division rivals and owners of baseball’s best record.
The Cubs entered Thursday 6-13 at Wrigley Field in elimination games, including 0-3 in winner-takes-all games. Those previous win-or-go-home losses occurred in the 1945 World Series, 2003 NL Championship Series and 2018 wild-card game. They were 4-4 overall in such games, with their last win coming in the 2017 NLDS at the Washington Nationals.
Pete Crow-Armstrong’s RBI single and Dansby Swanson’s bases-loaded walk in the second put the Cubs in control early. Michael Busch’s hit his first career postseason home run to lead off the seventh. Jackson Merrill’s solo blast off Brad Keller in the ninth accounted for the Padres’ only run, though they had the tying runs in scoring position before the Cubs held on for the win. “]
“Everybody works really hard to get themselves in games like this and moments like this and atmospheres like this,” manager Craig Counsell said pregame. “Nerves, yeah, of course, but that’s how you enjoy it is you know you worked hard to put yourself in an environment like this, which is pretty special.
“For all the players, you acknowledge your feelings, you acknowledge how you’re feeling, it’s OK. But I also know from playing that when you get in the game, it all normalizes once the game starts. All the feelings you’re having before the game, just enjoy them and enjoy the nerves, enjoy the excitement. Like, lean into it.”
The Cubs would have experienced difficult what-if reflections of missed opportunities had the Padres pulled off a comeback win.
They put the leadoff batter on base in four of the first five innings and had at least one player reach in each of the first six innings. The Cubs’ best chance to blow the game open came in the second after loading the bases with nobody out against Padres starter Yu Darvish. Kyle Tucker (single) and Seiya Suzuki (double) immediately put pressure on Darvish to begin the frame. The former Cub then hit Carson Kelly with a pitch and surrendered an RBI single to Crow-Armstrong, his first of the series, for a 1-0 Cubs lead.
Padres manager Mike Shildt had a quick hook for Darvish, pulling him before he could record an out in the second. Right-handed reliever Jeremiah Estrada, claimed off waivers after the Cubs designated him for assignment before the 2024 season, entered into the jam only to walk in a run on a full count to Swanson.
The Cubs, though, couldn’t tack on any more. Matt Shaw struck out, one of three in the game, and Busch hit into an inning-ending double play.
Fortunately, right-hander Jameson Taillon shined in his second career postseason start and first since 2022 with the New York Yankees. He cruised through four shutout innings, holding the Padres to two hits and striking out four without walking a batter. Taillon wanted this opportunity and delivered.
“You’re confident Jamo is going to do him, he’s really good at that,” Counsell said. “He’s really good at sticking to the things that make him have success, which is really good strike-throwing ability, the ability to throw any pitch at any time, controlling situations, with kind of mentally controlling situations to be able to make the next pitch, any pitch, any count. You combine all those things, and it leads to a lot of success.
“We know he’s going to be prepared for the moment.”
Counsell faced his first big decision in Game 3 heading into the fifth: Let Taillon, who had been rolling, stay in to face pocket of three consecutive left-handed hitters or go to bullpen. Counsell opted for the latter and turned to Caleb Thielbar.
The 38-year-old reliever struck out two of the lefties, Ryan O’Hearn and Jake Cronenworth, sandwiched around Gavin Sheets’ single. Counsell turned to Daniel Palencia to end the fifth, and the hard-throwing righty recovered from Freddy Fermin’s double to put runners at second and third by forcing Fernando Tatís Jr. to fly out to keep the Padres off the board.
One of the best defense teams in the regular season produced a fantastic all-around performance in the biggest game of the season. Crow-Armstrong’s elite reaction time allowed him to make a sliding grab on Manny Machado’s 111.2-mph liner that had a 10% catch probability for the final out of the first. Swanson had a trio of plays to rob the Padres of hits while second baseman Nico Hoerner’s leaping catch to snag a liner with a .560 expected average that potentially prevented the runner at second from scoring, which would have made it a one-run game.
The Cubs have showed a knack for bouncing back after tough games and displaying resiliency en route to their 92-win season. Their 46-24 record after a loss this year was the best in Major League Baseball, including a 23-6 mark at Wrigley.
“We’ve had pretty much the same group all year long, and we’re having each other’s backs, whether we have good days or bad days,” Tucker said. “We’ve just got to try and grind through them and try and come out with a win regardless.”
Cubs fans were locked in from the first pitch, rising to their feet every time a hitter stepped to the plate in a big spot or Taillon and Cubs relievers had two strikes during a two-out at-bat. The Cubs embraced the atmosphere where clearly the Friendly Confines had been waiting for the first postseason home game with fans in the stands since 2018.
“There’s always such a cool buzz when we play here, but I think it definitely feels a little bit bigger,” Crow-Armstrong said. “I think the energy is at a 10 from pitch one or even from an hour pregame. It’s so cool. It’s an opportunity we get to feed off of, off of our crowd. So when you’ve got 40,000 pulling in your direction, that’s always fun.
“We owe more playoff baseball to this fan base for sure.”