By Salem Chicago News Staff
CHICAGO — The Cubs will travel to San Diego to face the Padres in the NL Wild Card Series beginning Tuesday at Petco Park, a rematch of last year’s postseason meeting.
Game 1 is set for 9 p.m. CT on Peacock and NBC Sports Network. The Cubs secured the No. 5 seed in the NL after finishing 89-73, while the Padres earned the No. 4 seed and home-field advantage.
The Cubs defeated the Padres in three games at Wrigley Field in last year’s Wild Card Series before falling to the Brewers in the NLDS. This time, the series moves to the West Coast.
“Should be a great series,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said. “They’re a great team, they’ve got a lot of great players, a good coaching staff. It’ll be tightly contested. They’re the ones that knocked us out of the postseason last year. So we’re going to have to bring our ‘A’ game.”
The Cubs closed the regular season with a 6-2 win over the Red Sox on Sunday at Tropicana Field, a neutral site after a Nor’easter disrupted the final series in Boston.
Chicago’s offense has been among the most potent in baseball, led by center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong’s historic 45-homer, 41-steal season. Third baseman Alex Bregman showed he is healthy in Sunday’s finale, going 4-for-4 with two home runs in just his second game back from facial fractures sustained when a foul ball struck his left cheek.
“Everyone’s goal is to get to the postseason and make a deep run,” Bregman said. “You grow up as a kid watching playoff baseball, and it’s the best kind of baseball there is.”
The Padres caught fire in the second half, posting 42 wins since the All-Star break. San Diego’s lineup features Fernando Tatis Jr., who hit 25 home runs with a .914 OPS after connecting for his first homer of the season on May 30, along with Manny Machado and ace starter Michael King (12-10, 3.21 ERA), who will start Game 1.
The Cubs have not announced their Game 1 starter. Left-hander Matthew Boyd (10-5, 3.91 ERA) and right-hander Kevin Gausman (9-12, 4.51 ERA) are the top candidates. Gausman completed a bullpen session Sunday with encouraging results after injuring his non-throwing shoulder while making a diving tag in his last start.
Left-hander Shota Imanaga started the season finale but worked just one inning and 12 pitches, keeping him available as early as Game 2.
The winner of the series will advance to the NLDS against the Brewers, the NL Central champions. It would be the same path the Cubs took last October.
Game 2 is Wednesday, with a potential Game 3 on Thursday.
Source: MLB.com — Cubs News
