Game Recap: Cubs win in extras over Padres |
Dustin Riese
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- Wednesday, April 16 2025
SAN DIEGO - If the first few weeks have taught us anything about this baseball season, it would be that going to Petco Park this season will be a challenge, as the San Diego Padres (14-4) entered Tuesday night with a perfect 11-0 mark at home. Given what happened to the Chicago Cubs (12-8) on Monday, it will take a near-perfect effort if you want to beat this team at home as they are racking up the wins.
However, the Cubs might be the Padres' kryptonite. Not only did they hand the Padres their first loss of the season at Wrigley two weeks ago, but three of their four losses have come at the hands of the Cubs. That includes Tuesday, when the Cubs overcame stranding 14 men on base to hand the Padres their first home loss of the season. An extra-inning RBI triple from Nico Hoerner would be the difference in the Cubs' 2-1 win. This was about as good of a pitcher's duel as you could've asked for as Shota Imanaga and Randy Vasquez brought their A-game to the mound, as runs were challenging to come by. Despite neither pitcher making it through six innings, both did their job as they were charged with one run allowed through five. For Imanaga, his run was an unearned run to lower his ERA to 2.22, while Vasquez's was an earned run, as his ERA now sits at 1.74. Despite neither team doing anything offensively through three innings, it didn't come without opportunities as both teams loaded the bases in the third, only to be turned away. The Padres had the better of the two chances as they loaded the bases off a pair of walks and Fernando Tatis Jr single to set the offense up with one out. Following a massive strikeout for one of his seven punchouts, Imanaga worked around the jam as he kept his team in the game. The fourth inning continued to be an issue for Imanaga as an Oscar Gonzalez lead-off single was followed by a one-out Jose Iglesias double to put a pair of runners in scoring position with one down. Like the third, Imanaga buckled down when he had to, and despite his high-stress situations, he did what he had to do to keep things tied.
At some point, you knew that the traffic left on the bases would come back to haunt the Cubs, and it was the bottom of the fifth when the Padres scored the first and their only run of the night. This time, it wasn't the traffic on the bases that did the Cubs in, but more so the little league defense they decided to play as a pair of dropped pop-ups against Manny Machado kept his bat alive.
Anytime you give a great hitter like Machado extra swings, bad things tend to happen, and after working what was a 10-pitch at-bat, Machado capitalized on the additional opportunities as he took Imanaga deep for the 1-0 lead. That was expected when you looked at how things went that inning, but the Cubs were far from out of it as they jumped on the Padres' pen to begin the sixth.
All it took was a pair of singles to give the Cubs life as Dansby Swanson led things off with a single to right before scampering to third on a perfectly executed hit and run with Hoerner at the plate. That set up runners on the corners with no outs as Pete Crow-Armstrong got the bunt down to Luis Arraez. What looked to be a play at the plate turned into an RBI fielder's choice as Arraez couldn't field the ball cleanly, leading to Swanson scoring. Chicago had a chance to add on after Miguel Amaya moved both runners up, but once again, the Cubs failed to come away with the clutch hit they needed.
After watching another bullpen meltdown on Monday, by the time the sixth inning rolled around, this was now a battle of the bullpens, and you had to think the Padres had the advantage. For the most part, they did, but it was the Cubs pen that showed up in a big way as Daniel Palencia, Julian Merryweather, Porter Hodge, and Ryan Pressly not only combined to shut the Padres offense down the next four innings, but allowed just one hit as the San Diego offense was still searching for answers.
As bad as the Cubs have been, the back three of that combination has been solid as all three arms have a 3.00 or less. Not only was the Cubs' pen showing up, but so was the San Diego pen, as they responded by allowing the tying run and keeping the Cubs off the scoreboard for the rest of regulation as things remained tied 1-1.
In the extra frame, the Cubs picked up their first and lone hit with runners in scoring position as Hoerner led off the 10th with an RBI triple, putting the Cubs in front 2-1 and setting himself up with a huge insurance run. Unfortunately, that insurance run didn't come, and with Yuki Matsui stranding Hoerner at third, you wondered if that would come back to haunt the Cubs, especially with Caleb Theilbar set to pitch the 10th.
The answer was a resounding no as Theilbar not only continued what the rest of the relievers started, but he gave the Cubs by far his best outing of the season, stranding the tying run at third and picking up his first save of 2025 to give the Cubs a massive 2-1 win. Hoerner led the Cubs with three hits to push his average to .328, with Kyle Tucker adding two hits. Chicago will go for the series win on Wednesday as Matthew Boyd faces off against Nick Pivetta.
