The San Diego Padres took a pounding from the Chicago Cubs last night in a game that featured plenty of home runs.
The wind was whipping at Wrigley Field last night, and the Chicago Cubs took advantage of the conditions with a four-homer night that resulted in a 9-7 win over the San Diego Padres as a late Padres rally fell short.
It didn’t take long for the home runs to start flying in this one. Fernando Tatis Jr. launched a 424-foot bomb off Cubs starter Matthew Boyd to get the scoring started, but Chicago was able to tie it at 1-1 on an RBI single from Carson Kelly.
The Padres lost control of the game the next inning, as the Cubs got four more off San Diego starter JP Sears. They continued the homer barrage with a solo shot from Dansby Swanson and a three-run bomb from Alex Bregman to make it 5-1.
Manny Machado countered with a two-run homer the next inning to make it 5-3, but the Cubs kept the home run derby going in the fifth with a solo homer by Michael Busch and another homer for two more by Swanson. Pete Crow-Armstrong added to the carnage with a solo home run in the sixth to make it 9-3.
No lead was safe at Wrigley on a night like this one, though, and the Padres rallied with four more runs in the eighth on home runs by Gavin Sheets and another homer by Tatis. Sheets’ homer was a three-run bomb, while Tatis added a solo shot.
That made it 9-7, but relievers Tyler Ferguson and Ryan Rolison were able to restore order, with Rolison getting his first save of the season as the Cubs bullpen finished off the win. Sears had an ugly night that saw his ERA soar to 6.97, and Rod Marinaccio gave up two more in relief as his number rose to 4.93.
The loss was San Diego’s fourth straight, and it dropped them to just two games over .500 as that watershed mark continue to define their season. They’re also just a half-game ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL West, where the Los Angeles Dodgers reign with a 12-game lead.
The Padres get a last chance to avoid the sweep against Chicago today, and they’ll send Walker Buehler to the mound against Colin Rea for the Cubs. After that they have a four-game series at Dodgers Stadium, so it would be nice to get some momentum going into that pivotal matchup this weekend.
