Michael King flirted with a no-hitter while Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado ignited an early power surge to fuel a dominant Wild Card series opening victory for the San Diego Padres.
The San Diego Padres continued their hot streak with a dominant 8-0 win over the Chicago Cubs in Game 1 of the Wild Card series.
It was a jam-packed wild Petco Park crowd in downtown San Diego, and the Padres wasted no time giving them something to cheer about.
For starters, Michael King struck out Pete Crow-Armstrong on three pitches, and it marked the hardest pitch King had thrown since 2023, when he was with the New York Yankees.
Then, Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a solo home run off Matthew Boyd on the first pitch in the bottom half of the inning.
It sent an electric frenzy into the San Diego crowd.
Two batters later, Manny Machado followed suit with a home run.
Machado drove in another run with an RBI double in the third, and Xander Bogaerts made it 4-0 with a solo home run off the Western Metal Supply building.
The Padres scored three runs in the fifth inning as they engineered a bit of a rally.
Luis Campusano singled, and Machado walked with two outs. Ty France then singled to load the bases, and Jackson Merrill then came through with a two-run single on a nice piece of hitting. France would later score on a passed ball to make it 7-0.
In the meantime, Michael King went six innings without allowing a hit before Nico Hoerner broke up the no-no with a single in the top of the seventh inning.
It was a ground ball fielded by Machado, but he bobbled the throw, although fans gave King a standing ovation after the play.
King would get out of the inning allowing just the one hit, and he went seven innings with three walks and eight strikeouts on a monster outing in Game 1, showing he was easily the right choice for manager Craig Stammen.
And, well, Tatis did Tatis things in the bottom of the seventh.
Tatis began with a single, and he stole second base. However, Carson Kelly's throw bounced and went into shallow left field.
Somehow, someway, Tatis kept on running and scored in a wild scene.
The Padres chased Matthew Boyd after four innings, and he allowed four runs on five hits. Javier Assad came in and gave up three runs, two earned, on two hits in just 0.2 innings, so Craig Counsell had to dip into the bullpen earlier than he had hoped.
Stammen brought in Yuki Matsui for the eighth, and King's amazing night ended in a huge way.
Joe Musgrove, who was a surprise addition to the Wild Card roster, came into the game in the ninth. It marked his first appearance in the big leagues since Game 2 of the Wild Card series in 2024, and Petco Park went absolutely bonkers when Musgrove took the mound.
Musgrove struck out Michael Busch on three pitches, but he allowed a single to Seiya Suzuki and then walked Ian Happ. Nico Hoerner then hit a single to load the bases.
Musgrove got Pedro Ramirez to pop out, and then Michael Conforto struck out looking to give San Diego an 8-0 lead on an electric night at Petco Park.
The Padres will look to end the series on Wednesday night. Nick Pivetta will pitch for San Diego, with Kevin Gausman pitching for Chicago.
