SAN DIEGO -- They packed Petco Park anticipating a party in the Gaslamp on Tuesday night. The Cubs could do little to stop it. The Padres wouldn't let it end.
Three pitches into the top of the first inning, Michael King punched out Pete Crow-Armstrong. The ballpark erupted. Eight pitches later, King had retired the side in order. Louder, still. Leading off the bottom of the first, Fernando Tatis Jr. crushed the first pitch he saw over the center-field wall. Somehow, even louder.
That noise reached a crescendo two batters later, when Manny Machado launched another home run off Cubs left-hander Matthew Boyd. The Padres were well on their way to an 8-0 victory in Game 1 of the National League Wild Card Series. The party in downtown San Diego never stopped.
King would carry a no-hitter into the seventh. By the time Nico Hoerner broke up King’s bid at history with a soft single down the third-base line with one out in the seventh, the Padres had built a 7-0 lead. It was the longest individual postseason no-hit bid since Aníbal Sánchez went 7 2/3 for the Nationals in the 2019 NLCS.
King would allow just that one hit over seven innings -- 28 years to the day that Kevin Brown punched out 16 Astros in the 1998 NLDS. That game is widely regarded as the greatest single-game pitching performance in franchise history. King made a strong case for No. 2.
The game stood in stark contrast to last year’s Wild Card Series between these two teams, which Chicago controlled throughout. Suddenly, the Cubs’ backs are against the wall. And the Padres are one win from a trip to Milwaukee and the NLDS.
Here are some takeaways from Game 1:
1. This is a very different Padres offense
Maybe a few of the names are the same. But this is not the Padres offense that scored all of five runs across three games in last year’s Wild Card Series against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
For a month now, the Padres have been the best offense in baseball. And if there were any doubt whether that would carry over into October … the Padres erased it with a couple swings in the bottom of the first inning.
"We’re one. We’re coming together as one group," Tatis said. "At-bat after at-bat, we trust each other."
Tatis and Machado became the first Padres teammates to combine for multiple home runs in the first inning of a playoff game in franchise history. Xander Bogaerts would add a homer of his own in the fourth. The Padres poured it on.
By the fifth inning Tuesday night they’d scored more than they had in that entire three-game series at Wrigley Field a year ago.
2. Boyd’s changeup betrays him
One of the keys to Boyd being as effective and consistent as he has been for the Cubs is the reliability of his changeup. It is his signature offspeed offering, but the lefty’s command of the pitch eluded him in Game 1 and it proved costly.
All three home runs surrendered by Boyd came off his changeup, marking the first time in his career (regular season or postseason) that he allowed that many homers in a game off that pitch. The blasts from Tatis, Machado and Bogaerts each came off changeups that were left in the strike zone.
While allowing homers was an issue for the Cubs’ staff this season – their 231 homers surrendered led the NL – Boyd was one of the better performers on that front. In fact, the lefty allowed no homers in September, only two in his final seven starts combined and only allowed two or more in a game in three of his 22 starts.
3. Michael King might’ve done more than just win Game 1
The Padres have the sport's best bullpen. But how much stress could it handle across three games this week?
Well, now they really only need to worry about two -- at most.
Not only was King electric. The fact that he covered seven innings -- not to mention the tack-on runs from the Padres offense -- could go a long way toward helping them win the series. Mason Miller and Adrian Morejon are still fresh. The whole bullpen is, really.
The Cubs’ uphill climb in Games 2 and 3 just got a whole lot steeper.
4. Cubs needed their lineup to step up
The Cubs ended the season leading the Major Leagues in runs scored (850), walks (674), slugging percentage (.428) and OPS (.767), while pacing the NL in home runs (220). A deep October run was going to be contingent on that offense continuing to roll, given the rocky nature of Chicago’s pitching.
Game 1 against the Padres could not have gone worse in that regard for the North Siders. The Cubs went 0-for-20 into the seventh inning before Hoerner’s infield single. Chicago’s dynamic one-two punch of Crow-Armstrong and Alex Bregman finished a combined 0-for-7 with six strikeouts.