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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

    Jason Ross

    Jason Ross 3,285

    Posted

    Bases load and PCA up. 

    Please hit it. 

    UMFan83

    UMFan83 3,414

    Posted

    Just now, Rex Buckingham said:

    I think we have a pretty good idea what Pete will give us... 

    Well at least he's coming up with 0 outs. 

    He needs a red light until he gets a strike.

    Outshined_One

    Outshined_One 1,136

    Posted

    Pete, if there ever was a time for your first half self to make a comeback...

    Eeyore

    Eeyore 227

    Posted

    They killed him!

    muntjack

    muntjack 288

    Posted

    Come on,  PCA. Time to turn the corner. 

    Hortonhearsawho

    Hortonhearsawho 117

    Posted

    Pete I beg you don't strike out here. 

    s2obed

    s2obed 96

    Posted

    Break this horsefeathers open

    JHBulls

    JHBulls 1,063

    Posted

    Celebrating a HBP almost feels mean lol. 

    soccer10k

    soccer10k 688

    Posted

    PCA slam, please.

    though I’d take a sac fly.

    Eeyore

    Eeyore 227

    Posted

    Right now they're telling Darvish to keep throwing it farther and farther in, each pitch

    UMFan83

    UMFan83 3,414

    Posted

    Just now, Jason Ross said:

    Bases load and PCA up. 

    Please hit it. 

    If it was still 2nd and 3rd and it wasn't Tucker on 3rd I'd almost consider a squeeze lol

    s2obed

    s2obed 96

    Posted

    I love Yu, but he needs to get pounded right here. 

    chibears55

    chibears55 1,243

    Posted (edited)

    Early but a huge AB here for PCA

    Let go

    Edited by chibears55
    UMFan83

    UMFan83 3,414

    Posted

    Attaboy Pete!

    Eeyore

    Eeyore 227

    Posted

    Oh my Glob!

    soccer10k

    soccer10k 688

    Posted

    Nice! Now keep it going.

    BKHoo

    BKHoo 299

    Posted

    The streak of game 1 winners winning the series is going to be upheld by the Tigers. Hopefully the Cubs can follow. 

    Jason Ross

    Jason Ross 3,285

    Posted

    Pete. Pete. Pete.

    muntjack

    muntjack 288

    Posted

    Pour. It.On. Let's go!!

    Hankchifan

    Hankchifan 2

    Posted

    5 hours ago, Bertz said:

    I think the big questions today are:

    - How deep does Shildt let Darvish go?  I think he definitely doesn't get twice through the order unscathed but once maybe he can bob and weave enough

    - Do Darvish or Taillon get any extra juice from being able to shorten up?

    - Are Miller or Morejon available?  The answer *should* be no, but the Padres have an almost pathological need to fail the marshmallow test.  And this is probably their last run (mayyybe next year)

    - Does Craig make the lineup as dangerous as possible for Darvish, knowing it might make the Padres' bullpen have an easier time in the back half of the game?

    - Darvish is one of the worst pitchers in the league at holding runners, but Fermin's got a great arm.  So is this game a track meet or played more straight up?

    Not the best lineup with Happ batting third. 0 for 9 in the series with 6 strike outs so far. A rally killer.

    UMFan83

    UMFan83 3,414

    Posted

    Here comes the pen

    Hortonhearsawho

    Hortonhearsawho 117

    Posted

    Pete getting our first hit with runners in scoring position. 😂



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