Matthew Boyd’s rocky start and a dormant offense left Chicago hitless until the seventh, pushing the Cubs to the brink of elimination after a blowout.
The Chicago Cubs did not have it in Game 1.
Starter Matthew Boyd gave up three home runs, and the Cubs offense didn’t get their first hit until the seventh inning in the team’s 8-0 loss to the San Diego Padres in Game 1 of the National League Wild Card Round.
Things got off to an ugly start for this Cubs team in the first inning. Pete Crow-Armstrong and Alex Bregman both struck out to start the game, and Michael King’s stuff looked as good as ever on the mound.
The Padres then launched two home runs off Boyd in the bottom half of that frame. The Cubs lefty hung an 83.4 mph changeup to Fernando Tatis Jr. and left another changeup too far up to Manny Machado. Tatis blasted his home run for a Statcast-projected 405 feet that Crow-Armstrong just missed in center field, and Machado hit a Statcast-projected 391-foot homer to left-center field.
Those two home runs were enough for the Padres to control the start of this game. They added another run in the third inning on a Machado double, scored another in the fourth, added three more in the fifth, and another in the sixth.
The Cubs decided to roll with Boyd for Game 1 of this series despite the Padres’ strong numbers against lefties. San Diego’s offense slashed .262/.335/.426 against left-handed starters in the regular season.
Part of the reason that manager Craig Counsell went with Boyd in Game 1 is because of Kevin Gausman’s lingering shoulder issue. Gausman left his final start of the regular season with some shoulder soreness. Tuesday was his turn in the rotation, but his shoulder obviously didn’t feel good enough yet to start.
Boyd allowed four runs on five hits with one walk and four strikeouts across four innings in Game 1. He allowed three home runs to Tatis, Machado, and Xander Bogaerts, and only generated seven whiffs on the mound.
As for the Cubs' offense, they had no answer for King. Chicago’s first hit of the game didn’t come until one out in the seventh inning, and the Padres right-hander threw seven shutout innings with eight strikeouts to carry San Diego in Game 1.
The Cubs’ season is now on the line. They will enter Game 2 of this National League Wild Card Round trying to stave off elimination. The North Siders must win on Wednesday night to stay alive. Their season would be over with a loss to the Padres.
The Cubs will start Gausman on Wednesday, but expect everyone (except Boyd) to be available. Clay Holmes, Shota Imanaga, and David Peterson will all be available.
Game 2 begins at 9:00 p.m. CT on Wednesday night on Peacock/NBCSN.
