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Padres pitching dominated Cubs hitters on Wednesday, forcing a winner-take-all Game 3 in Chicago. The starters are right-handers Jameson Taillon for Chicago and Yu Darvish for San Diego. In 2025, Taillon posted a 3.68 ERA, and Darvish a 5.38 as an injury-plagued season limited him to only 15 starts. Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) tells a different story, though; Taillon has a 2025 FIP of 5.00, and Darvish has a 4.83 FIP. This game is unlikely to become a pitcher's duel, at least until both teams reach into their respective bullpens.
Cubs Bullpen Usage
Game 1 (Tuesday), Chicago’s relief corps delivered 4 2/3 perfect innings behind starter Matthew Boyd. The sequence was Daniel Palencia for 1 2/3, then Drew Pomeranz, Andrew Kittredge, and Brad Keller covering the final three innings. In Game 2 (Wednesday), the Cubs used an opener approach. Andrew Kittredge handled the 1st, followed by Shota Imanaga for bulk innings. After that, lefty Caleb Thielbar, righty Colin Rea, and lefty Taylor Rogers finished it off; their batters faced were Kittredge 5, Imanaga 17, Thielbar 4, Rea 6, Rogers 3. Kittredge is the only Cubs pitcher to appear in both games so far, and he is likely out for Thursday's game as a result.
Padres Bullpen Usage
Game 1, San Diego followed starter Nick Pivetta with Adrian Morejon, Mason Miller, and Jeremiah Estrada. In Game 2, Dylan Cease started and worked 3 2/3. Adrian Morejon covered 2 1/3 innings and threw 33 pitches, Mason Miller struck out the first five batters he faced and threw 27 pitches, and Robert Suarez recorded a four-out save to close a 3-0 win. It's likely that both Morejon and Miller will be unavailable for Thursday's game, but given the nature of the situation, it might be all hands on deck for Mike Shildt.
Padres Batters Vs Jameson Taillon
| Rk | Player | B | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | SH | SF | IBB | HBP | GIDP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Xander Bogaerts | R | 28 | 28 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | .214 | .214 | .321 | .536 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | Ryan O'Hearn | L | 17 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .188 | .235 | .188 | .423 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Martín Maldonado | R | 16 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .286 | .375 | .571 | .946 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Luis Arráez | L | 13 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .231 | .231 | .231 | .462 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Jose Iglesias | R | 13 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | .538 | .538 | .923 | 1.462 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Gavin Sheets | L | 11 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .300 | .364 | .400 | .764 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Fernando Tatis Jr. | R | 6 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .333 | .833 | 1.167 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Manny Machado | R | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .000 | .200 | .000 | .200 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Jake Cronenworth | L | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Freddy Fermin | R | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 | .500 | .500 | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Cubs Batters Vs Yu Darvish
| Rk | Player | B | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | SH | SF | IBB | HBP | GIDP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Justin Turner | R | 27 | 24 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 10 | .208 | .296 | .375 | .671 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Dansby Swanson | R | 22 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 | .158 | .273 | .211 | .483 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Ian Happ | B | 14 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 | .154 | .214 | .154 | .368 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Nico Hoerner | R | 11 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .200 | .273 | .400 | .673 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Carson Kelly | R | 10 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .300 | .300 | .300 | .600 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Kyle Tucker | L | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .167 | .167 | .167 | .333 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Seiya Suzuki | R | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .250 | .400 | .500 | .900 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Michael Busch | L | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Pete Crow-Armstrong | L | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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