Dominant performances from Michael King and a relentless bullpen silenced Chicago’s high-powered bats at Petco Park, fueling a statement sweep as San Diego marches toward the National League Division Series.
Two games down and two games won convincingly, the San Diego Padres now face the task of beating the National League’s No. 1 seed, the Milwaukee Brewers, in a five-game series. Before we look ahead to San Diego’s NLDS matchup, let’s take a second to look back on an encouraging Wild Card series.
The Padres’ red-hot end to the season provided them the opportunity to host the series against the Chicago Cubs, and that turned out to be a critical factor in the best-of-three series. With a roaring crowd behind them every step of the way, the Cubs never got the chance to play at home in front of their fans, as the Friars took care of business at Petco Park two nights in a row.
Influence from the fans is one thing, but on-field performance is what really matters when it’s all said and done. Luckily for San Diego, they had both.
Right-hander Michael King set the tone in Game 1 of the series, tossing seven scoreless innings in which he allowed just one hit and struck out eight Cubs. The bullpen, including a returning Joe Musgrove, closed out the final two innings of the shutout.
Game 2 came around, and it was more of the same dominance from the Padres on the mound. Starter Nick Pivetta went three ⅓ innings, in which he allowed one run on three hits and two walks, but the bullpen shut it down from there. Only three baserunners were allowed for the remaining 5 ⅔ innings, with contributions from Bradgley Rodriguez, Jason Adam, Adrian Morejon, and Mason Miller.
The Padres finished the series with ridiculous numbers from the mound against a Cubs team that was the best-hitting team during the regular season. Across 18 innings, they allowed one run, eight hits, a .129 average, and struck out 19 batters.
Keep in mind, this was a Chicago lineup that led baseball in OPS at .767, drove in league-leading 804 runs, and walked more than any team in baseball. When they came to San Diego, however, all of that was out the door. The league’s best offense looked like a shell of itself when lined up against this Padres team.
Chicago’s stars were not exempt from this embarrassment. Pete Crow-Armstrong failed to record a hit in the two games, but he did strike out four times. Same stats for Alex Bregman as well.
There were questions heading into the series about how the Padres’ pitching staff would fare against baseball’s best offense, but they shut down any doubts in major fashion. Now gearing up to face a Brewers lineup that was one of the top offenses during the regular season, there is no fear.
Game 1 of the NLDS against Milwaukee is set for this Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
