Tatis climbs Padres' all-time HR ranks on windy night at Wrigley

CHICAGO -- Fernando Tatis Jr. needed only one swing to announce what kind of night it was going to be.

The Padres’ star opened Tuesday's game by launching a towering leadoff home run over the left-field bleachers and onto Waveland Avenue. Six innings later, he added another blast into the right-field basket, climbing another rung in franchise history.

The milestone, however, came in another frustrating loss.

Tatis' 13th career regular-season multihomer game wasn't enough to overcome a night when the wind turned Wrigley Field into a launching pad, as the Padres fell to the Cubs, 9-7, despite matching Chicago with 13 hits in a game that featured nine home runs.

With his second homer of the evening -- the 157th of his career -- Tatis passed Phil Nevin for sole possession of fourth place on the Padres' all-time home run list, trailing only Manny Machado (210), Nate Colbert (163) and Adrián González (161).

"That's special, man," Tatis said. "I'm grateful, especially for the opportunity this team has given me to play this game every single day. I don't take it for granted. I just go out there and try to perform every single time."

The milestone also continued what has quietly become one of the hottest stretches of Tatis' career. Tuesday night marked the 23rd consecutive game Tatis has reached base, matching his career best.

After opening the year searching for his power stroke, the three-time All-Star has begun looking like himself again.

"I'm getting more into rhythm," Tatis said. "Feeling that flow of me at the plate, creating motion and being able to stay consistent with that and trust it, which is most important."

Manager Craig Stammen has noticed the difference.

"We're starting to see him kind of come out of that no-power funk that he was in earlier," Stammen said. "I love the at-bats that he's taking. The one in the first inning was a really amazing at-bat. He showed patience and then also power in the same at-bat. Anytime he's swinging like that, you feel like he can leave the yard."

Unfortunately for San Diego, so could just about everyone else.

On a sweltering evening with the wind roaring toward the outfield, pitching became an exercise in survival.

"Probably what we expected last night, we got tonight," Stammen said. "Balls were zipping out of there. Home runs. It ends up coming down to how many other guys you put on base when those home runs are hit."

Left-hander JP Sears experienced that reality firsthand.

After Tatis staked the Padres to an immediate 1-0 lead, Sears surrendered five runs in the first two innings, including a three-run homer by Alex Bregman. Dansby Swanson homered twice, and Michael Busch and Pete Crow-Armstrong also went deep for Chicago.

Sears battled through 4 2/3 innings despite allowing seven runs (six earned), refusing to let one disastrous inning end his night.

"I was proud of how I competed and how I battled out there," Sears said. "Obviously not the least bit happy with the results. ... My job was to get deep into the game and save our bullpen."

Stammen pointed less to the weather than the counts Sears found himself pitching in.

"When the environment is the way it is, you really have to control counts," Stammen said. "You have to put it in your favor and then be able to make pitches and expand the zone as you go. The other way around, you're shrinking the zone."

The Padres never stopped swinging back, though.

Manny Machado halved the visitors’ deficit with his 16th homer in the third inning. Gavin Sheets crushed a three-run homer in the eighth that suddenly brought San Diego within striking distance.

Moments later, Tatis sent another baseball soaring into the humid Chicago night, trimming the deficit to two while simultaneously cementing another place in franchise lore.

"It says a lot," Sheets said. "[Tatis is] a special player. As young as he is to be that high on the list -- obviously he's got a lot of time left and a lot of great memories to make."

The encouraging part for the Padres was obvious.

An offense that had been searching for answers has started producing again. The challenge now is putting every phase together.

"We're definitely hitting better than what we have been," Stammen said. "Now the pitching is going to have to match it. When we get those two clicking together, we should be in good shape."

Tatis provided more than enough offense -- and another memorable chapter in a career that continues climbing the Padres' record books. It just wasn't enough to keep pace in a wild offensive showcase at Wrigley Field.