SAN DIEGO -- The Padres made sure this year was different.
The 2025 iteration of this National League Wild Card Series in Chicago left a sour taste in San Diego’s mouth, and rightfully so. An already struggling lineup flatlined. There were virtually no big moments. They didn’t have a raucous Petco Park behind them.
Not this year.
San Diego flipped the script completely, cruising through a dominant -- and very loud -- two nights to sweep the Cubs in the NL Wild Card Series, capped by a 4-1 win in Wednesday’s Game 2. The Padres will now advance to the Division Series to face the No. 1 seeded Brewers, who won an MLB-best 103 games during the regular season. Game 1 is on Saturday in Milwaukee.
“We’re playing our best baseball at the right time,” said Padres first baseman Ty France. “We’re looking forward to continuing it.”
Here are some takeaways from the Padres' sweep:
1. The Padres' stars outshined the Cubs’ stars
For the Cubs, the result is quite the disappointment. They came into the series boasting a league-best offense led by likely NL MVP Pete Crow-Armstrong and postseason stalwart Alex Bregman. The Padres held both in check throughout the series, while San Diego’s dynamic duo of Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado took over -- along with the rest of the Padres’ lineup.
Tatis and Machado were the stars of San Diego’s 8-0 rout in Game 1 -- each belting a home run in the overwhelming win. Xander Bogaerts and Jackson Merrill combined for eight hits across the pair of victories.
On the other side, Crow-Armstrong and Bregman combined to go 0-for-15 in the two games with eight strikeouts between them.
“I’m just pretty disappointed in myself,” Crow-Armstrong said. “You can look at the scoreboard. You can look at the stat sheet. Wherever you get your numbers from. It’s clear to see that I didn’t contribute.”
2. The San Diego bullpen was built for this
Hear me out: If you’re the Cubs -- and you need to win a game to keep your season alive -- probably not a great idea to fall behind the Padres early at Petco Park, with the stable of arms they have looming in the bullpen.
The San Diego bullpen was built precisely with this kind of moment in mind. And the Padres executed their plan to perfection on Wednesday.
“In the postseason, you’ve got to get a lot of great hitters out,” said general manager A.J. Preller. “You’ve got to have a lot of answers in that bullpen.”
With Preller as the architect, the Padres always do. Bradgley Rodriguez, Jason Adam, Adrian Morejon and Mason Miller combined for 5 2/3 scoreless innings on Wednesday. Really, the series was probably over when Michael King covered seven dominant innings in Game 1, preserving that entire ‘pen for a night like this one.
“King was the key to this whole series, his ability to go seven,” said pitching coach Ruben Niebla. “Going into today it was like: We know where we’re at. … We knew we had six innings we could cover. It worked out to perfection.”
3. The Cubs’ lineup went quiet overall
A deep run into October was going to require the Cubs’ high-scoring offense to deliver in the manner it did in the regular season. The North Siders led the Majors in runs scored, walks, slugging percentage and OPS, while also leading the NL in homers.
In the two losses in San Diego, Chicago’s lineup went dark beyond just Crow-Armstrong and Bregman. As a whole, the unit hit .129 (8-for-62) with just one run scored.
“We didn’t score runs,” said Nico Hoerner, whose RBI single in the fourth represented the lone breakthrough in the series. “We have a great lineup. I think we were prepared. I think that’s kind of the harsh reality of a three-game series to end the season, right? I’m sure there were plenty of two-game stretches during the season we didn’t produce.
“They executed at a really high level. Obviously, their bullpen is incredibly talented and they showed that tonight.”
4. Petco Park is an October force
Machado is a veteran of eight postseasons. He’s seen his share of rabid playoff crowds (including a few in Milwaukee, where the Padres are headed next).
This week, Machado said, was on another level.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said. “That was huge.”
It’s going to be awfully tough to beat the Padres in San Diego this postseason. No doubt, the Padres would love to win a pair in Milwaukee. But realistically, if they can earn a split this weekend, they’ll like their chances heading back home for Games 3 and 4.