It ain’t over ‘til it’s over. But it’s over.
The Cubs lost Game 2 of the National League Wild Card Series 4-1 to the San Diego Padres. The Friars advance to the Division Series and eliminate the Cubs, 2 games to 0.
The Cubs came out just as mildly as they did in Game 1 with the team going down in order, striking out twice, in the first inning. Cubs starter Kevin Gausman, pitching with an injured left, non-throwing shoulder, got off to a better start than Matthew Boyd the game before, retiring the Padres in order in the first.
The problems started in the second inning for Gausman, who allowed a leadoff double to Ty France down the left field line. Next up, Jackson Merrill hit a slow roller to shortstop Dansby Swanson who had no choice but to eat the ball, putting runners on first and third and no outs. After Merrill stole second, Xander Bogaerts singled to right field to make it 1-0. Next up, a sac fly by rookie catcher made it 2-0. Gausman then got a pair of ground out to stop the bleeding, but with the Cubs offense stuck in park, 2-0 seemed like a tall mountain to climb.
But the Cubs did have chances. Matt Shaw walked and Carson Kelly singled to lead off the third inning to put runners on first and second with no outs. But Dansby Swanson struck out, Pete Crow-Armstrong popped up and Alex Bregman flew out to end that rally before it even got started.
The Cubs would finally break through, sort of, in the fourth inning. After Michael Busch flew out to start the inning, three straight baserunners would reach for the Cubs, leading to their first run of the series. Seiya Suzuki singled, Ian Happ walked and then Nico Hoerner singled home Suzuki.
At that point, Padres manager Craig Stammen pulled Pivetta in favor of Bradgley Rodriguez. He shut down the Cubs and they could not push the tying run across the plate, even after Kelly was hit to load the bases with two outs.
But the Padres struck back in the bottom of the fourth. After Bogaerts doubled with one out, manager Craig Counsell went to the bullpen and Daniel Palencia. Palencia struck out Salas, but then pinch-hitter Gavin Sheets crushed one 394 feet deep into the right field bleachers to make it 4-1. Honestly, it wasn’t a bad pitch. Palencia threw Sheets a 101 mile per hour fastball low and inside. But Sheets was ready for it and clobbered it.
Against the strong Padres bullpen, that was all they needed. After Rodriguez, the Padres got one inning out of Jason Adam, two out of Adrian Morejon and one out of Mason Miller. Miller struck out Ian Happ and then gave up a double to Nico Hoerner, But Miller struck out pinch-hitter Michael Conforto and got Carson Kelly to ground out to short to end the game and the Cubs’ season.
It’s not hard to see what went wrong for the Cubs in this series. The team didn’t hit. Pete Crow-Armstrong, Alex Bregman and Michael Busch went a combined 0 for 20 with a walk. After three hits on Tuesday, the team only managed five hits tonight and the first extra base hit didn’t come until Hoerner’s double in the 9th. Of the Cubs eight hits in this series, Nico Hoerner had four of them.
That ends the Cubs 2026 season. Here’s to 2027 being better. Or even 2027 actually happening.
Al will have a full recap and/or post mortem with video at 8 am Central tomorrow.
