Miller Finally Has Ninth-Inning Meltdown As Cubs Get A Walk-Off 3-2 Win Over Padres

The San Diego Padres have been getting bullet-proof pitching from closer Mason Miller all year, but last night Miller and fellow reliever Jason Adam blew up in the ninth inning as the Chicago Cubs earned a 3-2 walk-off win in the first game of their three game series at Wrigley Field.

The Padres typically do pitching duels, and this one fell into that category. Griffin Canning was the starter for San Diego, with Shota Imanaga on the mound for the Cubs, and the two teams swapped solo runs in the first five frames. 

The Padres opened the scoring with a run in the third on a fielder’s choice by Fernando Tatis Jr. that scored Xander Bogaerts, and they added a run on an RBI double by Bogaerts in the fourth to make it 2-0. 

But the Cubs countered by erasing the Padres' slim lead with a run in the fourth on an RBI single by Michael Conforto, and Seiya Suzuki tied the game in the fifth with a sacrifice fly that drove home Dansby Swanson to knot this one up at 2-2. 

The score stayed the same through the late innings as both bullpens began putting up zeroes. Canning wound up going 4-1/3 innings as he allowed two runs on five hits, while Imanaga’s stint was 6-1/3 innings as he scattered nine hits while giving up two runs. 

The battle of the bullpens set the stage for the dramatic ninth inning, starting when Swanson reached on an infield hit, and Pete Crow-Armstrong followed with a single off Adam. 

That brought on Miller, but Alex Bregman singled to load the bases. Miller then got an unlikely double play as Michael Busch flied to left, and Swanson was thrown out at the plate by Jase Bowen to keep the game tied. 

But the Cubs weren’t to be denied, as Seiya followed with a drive into the ivy in left that finally dropped to the ground as Bowen tried to make a play on it, and the hit gave Chicago the walk-off 3-2 win. 

The loss went to Adam, so Miller’s record remained unscarred, but it was a tough way to lose a tight game as the Padres once again couldn’t score when it mattered most. They’ll try again with JP Sears on the mound, with the Cubs sending Matthew Boyd to the Hill as the Padres dropped to three games over .500 at 43-40.