4 weeks ago
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The San Diego Padres didn't need another blowout Wednesday night. They simply needed one more win.
After hammering the Chicago Cubs 8-0 in Game 1, San Diego completed a two-game sweep of the National League Wild Card Series with a 4-1 victory at Petco Park. The clincher looked completely different from the opener, but the result was the same.
This time, the Padres needed their bullpen, timely hitting and one enormous swing from Gavin Sheets. Sheets entered as a pinch hitter in the fourth inning and launched a two-run home run into the right-field seats, turning a tense 2-1 game into a 4-1 advantage.
Chicago never recovered.
Gavin Sheets delivers the swing San Diego needed
The Cubs finally showed some life after being shut out in Game 1. San Diego took a 2-0 lead in the second inning when Xander Bogaerts drove home Ty France before Ethan Salas added a sacrifice fly to score Jackson Merrill.
Volume up for Petco Park's reaction to Gavin Sheets' homer 🔊 pic.twitter.com/v144jC3WNb
— MLB (@MLB) October 1, 2026Chicago answered in the fourth. Seiya Suzuki singled, Ian Happ walked and Nico Hoerner delivered an RBI single to cut the deficit to 2-1.
For a moment, the Cubs had life. Then came Sheets.
Bogaerts doubled with one out in the bottom of the fourth. Two outs later, Sheets stepped to the plate as a pinch hitter and drove a ball into the right-field seats.
Suddenly, the Padres had breathing room.
Sheets' home run was especially valuable because San Diego's bullpen made sure three runs were more than enough. Bradgley Rodriguez, Jason Adam, Adrian Morejon and Mason Miller combined to cover the final 5 2/3 innings without allowing a run. Cubs hitters managed only two hits against the San Diego bullpen.
Miller handled the ninth inning to earn the first postseason save of his career.
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Cubs' powerhouse offense disappears at worst possible time
Perhaps the most stunning part of the series wasn't simply that Chicago lost. It was how little resistance one of baseball's most productive offenses offered. The Cubs led MLB with 850 runs during the regular season. Against San Diego, they scored once in 18 innings.
One run.
Chicago's biggest bats never solved Padres pitching. Pete Crow-Armstrong and Alex Bregman each went 0-for-4 with a strikeout Wednesday. Together, the pair finished the two-game series 0-for-15 with eight strikeouts.
San Diego deserves plenty of credit for that. The Padres didn't just survive the Wild Card round. They controlled it.
Michael King carried a no-hit bid into the seventh inning of Game 1. The bullpen overwhelmed Chicago in Game 2. Fernando Tatis Jr., Bogaerts, Sheets and others supplied enough offense to make sure those pitching performances mattered.
The reward is a trip to Milwaukee. San Diego will face the top-seeded Brewers in a best-of-five NLDS beginning Saturday.
The Cubs beat San Diego five times in six regular-season meetings. None of those games matter now.
The Padres needed two wins when October arrived. They got both of them.
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