Seiya Suzuki and Carson Kelly belted back-to-back homers to lead off the fifth inning, lifting the host Chicago Cubs to a 3-1 victory over the San Diego Padres in Game 1 of their National League wild-card series on Tuesday.
Daniel Palencia (1-0) struck out two and retired all five batters he faced in relief of starter Matthew Boyd. Former Padre Drew Pomeranz retired the side in order in the seventh inning, Andrew Kittredge did the same in the eighth and Brad Keller followed suit in the ninth to secure the save.
“It was perfect today … everyone executed pitches,” said Cubs manager Craig Counsell. “Can’t say enough about what they did today.”
Chicago, which last reached the postseason in 2020, can wrap up the best-of-three series Wednesday afternoon at home. The Milwaukee Brewers, owners of MLB’s best regular-season record, await the winner.
“One day at a time,” said Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner. “These wild-card series go really fast. Have a good sleep tonight and back at it.”
Hoerner collected two of his team’s six hits and added a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning off former Cub Jeremiah Estrada.
Xander Bogaerts ripped an RBI double in the second inning and had two of the four hits for the Padres.
Chicago was limited to just one baserunner through the first four innings before Suzuki and Kelly emphatically erased a 1-0 deficit.
Suzuki deposited a 2-1 fastball from Nick Pivetta (0-1) over the wall in center field — a 424-foot clout — and Kelly followed by skying a 2-2 fastball into the first-row of the left-center bleachers.
Suzuki’s homer was his sixth in the last five games while Kelly’s blast was his first since Sept. 10.
Pivetta permitted two runs on three hits while striking out nine batters in five innings.
Jackson Merrill doubled to lead off the second and trotted home after Bogaerts drove a ball that one-hopped the wall in center. Bogaerts advanced to third base on a throwing error with nobody out, but Boyd retired the next three batters to limit the damage. Boyd went 4 1/3 innings and gave up four hits and one run with one walk and two strikeouts.
The Padres also threatened in the fourth after Manny Machado advanced to third base on a sacrifice bunt and an infield single. Boyd, however, induced a pop out to shallow center and a flyout to end the threat.
“Clearly our backs are against it, but our club is no stranger to challenges,” said Padres manager Mike Shildt. “We’re battle-tested and we’ll answer the bell tomorrow and we’ll go from there.”
–Field Level Media
