Game 1; game won.
The Cubs held off the Padres 3-1 with timely offense and stellar pitching, featuring their bu
Here’s how the Cubs won Game 1 of the NL Wild Card game to set up a clinching Game 2 on Wednesday.
The Cubs’ offense needed a wake up
Nico Hoerner hit a single in the first inning, but that was all the Cubs mustered in the first half of the Wild Card opener.
Through four innings, the Cubs had one hit. Then came the fifth.
The Cubs smacked back-to-back home runs to take a 2-1 lead and send Wrigley Field into a frenzy. First, Seiya Suzki hit a solo shot. Carson Kelly followed soon after.
The last time the Cubs hit back-to-back postseason dingers was on Oct. 15, 2016, when Miguel Montero and Dexter Fowler did so on Oct. 15, 2016 vs. the Dodgers.
In the sixth inning, the Cubs snagged two more hits. Michael Busch and Nico Hoerner slapped back-to-back singles to get two runners on with no one out. The Cubs couldn’t capitalize, but it was a sign their bats were warming up.
They got a key insurance run in the eighth inning on a sacrifice fly by Nico Hoerner.
Matthew Boyd proved it
After being named the Cubs’ Game 1 starter on Monday, Boyd was emotional. He shared what the moment meant to him as a player who rode the rollercoaster of a journeyman career, signed a two-year deal with Chicago and became an All-Star in Year 1.
The moment wasn’t lost before the game, either. After he came out of the left field bullpen to warm up, Boyd hyped up the crowd in the left field bleachers before taking a moment to himself in center field.
Boyd lived up to what the Cubs asked of him.
He pitched 4.1 innings, allowed four hits, gave up just one earned run, walked one batter and struck out two. Counsell pulled him before he faced the Padres’ star players for the third time around the lineup.
Still, Boyd was calm and collected. He got out of a jam in the fourth inning, where the Padres had runners on the corners with one out. Boyd got Ryan O’Hearn and Gavin Sheets to fly out to end the threat.
All year, Boyd has been the pitcher who has answered the call for the Cubs. He proved he could do it again in the playoffs.
The Cubs’ biggest question mark came through
At the trade deadline, the Cubs acquired Andrew Kittredge, Michael Soroka and Taylor Rogers in an effort to bolster their pitching staff.
Soroka was meant to benefit the rotation, but it seems more likely he remains in the bullpen.
That bullpen came through in the playoffs. They threw 4.2 perfect innings to set up a clinching Game 2 on Wednesday afternoon.
Kittredge pitched a clean eighth inning, while a healthy Daniel Palencia, Drew Pomeranz and Mitch Keller combined to close out the win in Game 1.