NL Wild Card: Padres Defeat Cubs, Advance to Division Series

The Padres pose for a team photo after eliminating the Cubs in the 2026 NL Wild Card Series and advancing to the Division Series, where they will face the Brewers

Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images

October 1, 2026

Padres 4, Cubs 1 — NL Wild Card Game Two

The San Diego Padres advanced to the Division Series after a 4–1 victory over the Chicago Cubs in Game Two of the 2026 NL Wild Card Series Wednesday night at Petco Park in San Diego. Ty France went 2-for-4 with a double and scored the game’s first run, Xander Bogaerts went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI, and Gavin Sheets blasted a two-run pinch-homer to pace the host Padres and eliminate the Cubs.

Padres – Cubs Game Summary

The Padres took a 2–0 lead in the second after a Ty France double followed by a swinging-bunt single by Jackson Merrill. Merrill stole second as Xander Bogaerts, up next, batted. Bogaerts ultimately singled to right, driving in France, before an Ethan Salas sacrifice fly to deep center brought in the other run.

The Cubs scored their first run of the game and the series in the top of the fourth off Padres starter Nick Pivetta. Seiya Suzuki led off with a single and walk, respectively, to set the table for Nico Hoerner. Hoerner poked a single up the middle that scored Suzuki and knocked Pivetta out of the game in favor of reliever Bradgley Rodriguez. The Padres answered in the bottom half, with a one-out Bogaerts double knocking Cubs starter Kevin Gausman out of the game. Two batters later, Gavin Sheets — hitting for Austin Hays — turned on a 101-mph Daniel Palencia fastball for a loud two-run homer into the right-field seats.

David Peterson and Ryan Zeferjahn combined for three scoreless innings of relief for the Cubs, striking out three and walking one. The Padres sent their gauntlet of relief assassins out after Rodriguez, with Jason Adam and Adrian Morejon tossing one and two scoreless innings, respectively. Closer Mason Miller, the top closer in the NL by virtually any metric, struck out two of the four batters he faced in a scoreless ninth. When Cubs catcher Carson Kelly grounded to short, it was time for the Friar Faithful to celebrate. Their beloved Padres had advanced to the Division Series.

What Went Right for the Padres

Timely Hitting

The Padres batted 3-for-6 with runners in scoring position. Additionally, they only stranded two runners in scoring position out of the five total runners they left on base.

Shutdown Relief

Rodriguez, Adam, Morejon, and Miller combined for 5 2/3 scoreless innings of relief. The quartet collectively allowed two hits, walking one and striking out two. Only once did a runner even reach second base against them, and that came on Hoerner’s ninth-inning double. Additionally, the four never allowed more than one Cub to reach base in any single inning.

What Went Wrong for the Padres

Yes, Pivetta only gave up one run, but if the Padres are going to make a deep postseason run, their starting pitchers must last longer than 3 1/3 innings. Facing only 15 batters simply isn’t going to cut it. The Padres have terrific relievers, yes, but they aren’t robots, so this cannot become the norm. In recent postseasons, relief pitchers throughout the league have run out of bullets, and overuse has been a factor. The Padres must do all they can to avoid that.

What Went Right for the Cubs

Like Game One, very little. One positive for the Cubs was that they didn’t allow any first-inning runs, but that is small solace.

What Went Wrong for the Cubs

Ineffective Starting Pitching

Gausman only lasted 3 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on five hits and striking out one.

Struggled to Hit

The Cubs managed five hits in the game, a small improvement over their three from Game One. However, only one came with a runner in scoring position.

Likely NL MVP Pete Crow-Armstrong and Alex Bregman combined to go 0-for-8 Wednesday night. In the two-game series, they combined to go 0-for-15 with a walk, that coming from Crow-Armstrong in the third inning of Game One.

Padres manager Craig Stammen told reporters in the postgame press conference the Padres had “marked” them as guys they didn’t want to beat them in the series. “Our pitchers stuck to the game plan that we had with them,” Stammen explained. “They executed pitches. That’s what it always comes down to is just executing what they have and not trying to do something out of what they have. They did a good job staying within themselves and being able to make pitches against those two guys.”

No Slug

Hoerner’s one-out double off Miller in the ninth was the only extra-base hit the Cubs managed all series.

Quotes

“Ty’s been a great player for us all season. Unsung hero, but has really had the best offensive season of anybody on our team. He continues to come up with big hits in big spots. He’s really good against lefties and righties. He fits really good right behind Manny in the lineup and in front of Jackson. Without him, we wouldn’t be here, there’s no doubt about that.” — Padres Manager Craig Stammen

“This is at the top. Yeah, this was — this was special. To do it, obviously, at home in this setting and on a night where we clinched. Obviously, this is just the beginning of the steps that we want to take in this postseason.” — Gavin Sheets on His Pinch-Homer

“Milwaukee has been the best team all year. It’s going to be a very tough series, five-game series against them. We’re going to have to play our best, just like we did against the Cubs, to knock them out.” — Padres Manager Craig Stammen on their Division Series Opponent, the Milwaukee Brewers

Quick Hits

Salas, at the age of 20 years and 121 days, because the youngest player to ever play catcher in a postseason game. He broke a record held by Bob Didier, who was 20 years and 230 days old when he caught Game One of the 1969 NLCS for the Atlanta Braves. Didier’s Braves bowed to the New York Mets in a three-game sweep. The “Miracle Mets” went on to shock the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles, four games to one, for their first World Series championship.

The 100.8-mph pitch that Gavin Sheets sent to the seats was the fastest pitch any Padre hit for a homer since the “pitch tracking” era began in 2008.

Looking Ahead

Rodriguez earned the win in relief, with Gausman taking the loss. Miller notched the save.

The Padres advance to take on the top-seeded Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Division Series. Game One will be in Milwaukee Saturday at 5:30 pm Pacific/7:30 pm Central. Jacob Misiorowski (16–5, 1.80 ERA in the 2026 regular season) will start for the Brewers, and the Padres will announce their starter later in the week.