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    Cubs-Padres Game Three Thread: Sudden Death Baseball

    It all comes down to this. The Cubs and Padres square off to determine who has the right to face the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLDS.
    Brandon Glick

    By Brandon Glick

    Image courtesy of © Matt Marton-Imagn Images

    Cubs Video

    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

    Jameson Taillon vs. San Diego Padres: Current Batters Table
    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
    Provided by Stathead.com: Found with Stathead. See Full Results.
    Generated 10/2/2025.

    Cubs Batters Vs Yu Darvish

    Yu Darvish vs. Chicago Cubs: Current Batters Table
    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
    Provided by Stathead.com: Found with Stathead. See Full Results.
    Generated 10/2/2025.

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    Featured Comments

    UMFan83

    UMFan83 3,414

    Posted

    Ahh let’s not count outs, 2003 was only 22 years ago, still too soon 

    • Like 3
    • Love 1
    Guest

    Guest

    Posted

    These 3 game series are like maximum stress

    Stratos

    Stratos 563

    Posted (edited)

    Gold gloves coming out our asses

    Edited by Stratos
    Eeyore

    Eeyore 227

    Posted

    The stretch is happening and I'm watching commercials 😡

    squally1313

    squally1313 2,636

    Posted

    Every fly ball has been terrifying after arraez hit one off the end of the bat to the wall 

    Jason Ross

    Jason Ross 3,285

    Posted

    Right now the Padres have and xBA of .275 and the Cubs an xBA of .273. The Cubs have the 4th best OAA in baseball. THe Padres have a -7, good for 18th. 

    Sometimes you make your own variance.

    Guest

    Guest

    Posted

    Just now, UMFan83 said:

    Ahh let’s not count outs, 2003 was only 22 years ago, still too soon 

    No one's gonna touch any foul balls this time

    Rex Buckingham

    Rex Buckingham 860

    Posted

    Let's go to Keller, and have Kittredge warm for the 9th. Have Soroka (I guess?)  warming to start the 8th

    Or just score a few runs

    Wilson A2000

    Wilson A2000 810

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

    Thought for sure it was 2-1

    Thought it was gone too

    Eeyore

    Eeyore 227

    Posted

    1 minute ago, UMFan83 said:

    Ahh let’s not count outs, 2003 was only 22 years ago, still too soon 

    Way too soon. I'm still mad about 1984

    • Like 1
    chibears55

    chibears55 1,243

    Posted

    Just now, Eeyore said:

    The stretch is happening and I'm watching commercials 😡

    They never so the stretch on national broadcast, just a glimpse of replay when they return from commercial 

    Eeyore

    Eeyore 227

    Posted

    Cup snek for the win

    UMFan83

    UMFan83 3,414

    Posted

    Just now, Rex Buckingham said:

    Let's go to Keller, and have Kittredge warm for the 9th. Have Soroka (I guess?)  warming to start the 8th

    Or just score a few runs

    I’d personally start the 8th with Soroka with Keller waiting in the wings but what do I know?

    squally1313

    squally1313 2,636

    Posted

    I’m starting to doubt the availability of morejon and miller 

    Guest

    Guest

    Posted

    Busch crushed that!

    JHBulls

    JHBulls 1,063

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

    Ahh let’s not count outs, 2003 was only 22 years ago, still too soon 

    It worked out well in 2016. 

    Old Style

    Old Style 683

    Posted

    BUSCH BOMB!!!!!

    Eeyore

    Eeyore 227

    Posted

    Boosh!

    JHBulls

    JHBulls 1,063

    Posted

    horsefeathers yes!

    Jason Ross

    Jason Ross 3,285

    Posted

    That's the tired bullpen! 

    UMFan83

    UMFan83 3,414

    Posted

    Just now, squally1313 said:

    I’m starting to doubt the availability of morejon and miller 

    As Morejon warms up lol

    • Haha 1
    Rex Buckingham

    Rex Buckingham 860

    Posted

    Just now, UMFan83 said:

    I’d personally start the 8th with Soroka with Keller waiting in the wings but what do I know?

    Now that we've got 3, I'd do that too



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