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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.

    Writer | Director | Author

    Short Film: Path of Two Minds
    Novel: The Great, Horrible Tragedy

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    Featured Comments

    BKHoo

    BKHoo 196

    Posted

    8 minutes ago, gflore34 said:

    This may be vulgar but, it's for the heart break of 1984 when a better Cubs team lost to the Padres - Shildt take Mason Miller and stick him up Tatis' ass!  Bye, bye you pissant fucks!!!!

    Please tell us how you really feel. 😆 

    • Haha 1
    chibears55

    chibears55 799

    Posted (edited)

    Enjoy this series win cause the next one going to be even tougher, especially with the early pitching matchups.

    Be cool though if it 2-2 going into game 5 with Horton return

    Edited by chibears55
    Tryptamine

    Tryptamine 2,034

    Posted

    I'm still completely wired.....

    UMFan83

    UMFan83 3,016

    Posted

    9 minutes ago, SparkMark1 said:

    Did they move Marquee to a higher tier?  I no longer get the channel

    I believe they previously announced that they were moving to the highest tier as soon as the regular season was over. So I’m guessing yes

    Dfan25

    Dfan25 191

    Posted

    Pretty crazy that they beat the Padres on the types of games not too many thought they could . 

    UMFan83

    UMFan83 3,016

    Posted

    Just now, chibears55 said:

    Enjoy this series win cause the next one going to be even tougher, especially with the early pitching matchups.

    Be cool though if we're at least 2-2 going into game 5 at home with Horton return

    Oh my sweet summer child

    also game 5 would be at Milwaukee

    SparkMark1

    SparkMark1 23

    Posted

    Just now, UMFan83 said:

    I believe they previously announced that they were moving to the highest tier as soon as the regular season was over. So I’m guessing yes

    I figured.  Must've been yesterday. I watched post-game on Tuesday.  🤷

    chibears55

    chibears55 799

    Posted

    Don't celebrate to much guys, only have one day off and last time you did this you loss 5 in a row..   just saying lol

    • Haha 1
    UMFan83

    UMFan83 3,016

    Posted

    3 minutes ago, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

    If I'm a Padres fan I want to murder that umpire 

    I cannot believe that such a horrible call was made in such an important spot. Obviously happy to take advantage of it but it still rubs me the wrong way. Can’t wait for ABS

    Hot Sauce

    Hot Sauce 537

    Posted

    I really like our chances against Milwaukee. 

    • Like 1
    Tangled Up in Plaid

    Tangled Up in Plaid 409

    Posted

    1 minute ago, Dfan25 said:

    Pretty crazy that they beat the Padres on the types of games not too many thought they could . 

    Every talking head I saw picked the Padres. Love to see it.

    UMFan83

    UMFan83 3,016

    Posted

    1 minute ago, SparkMark1 said:

    I figured.  Must've been yesterday. I watched post-game on Tuesday.  🤷

    Yeah maybe it was Oct 1 to go with the billing cycle. Luckily nothing changed on DirectTV for me

    chibears55

    chibears55 799

    Posted (edited)

    4 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

    Oh my sweet summer child

    also game 5 would be at Milwaukee

    It not 2-3-2 ?

    Edit: ok it a 5 game series not 7

    Edited by chibears55
    Brian707

    Brian707 1,519

    Posted

    Just now, chibears55 said:

    It not 2-3-2 ?

    What on earth?

    cl smooth

    cl smooth 1,629

    Posted

    4 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

    I'm still completely wired.....

    Same. I am making an old fashioned to take the edge off. 

    UMFan83

    UMFan83 3,016

    Posted

    16 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

    Go Red Sox

    Go Yankees. I think I’ve figured out a way to watch the games in Greece but probably won’t have much luck flying over the Atlantic. 

    cl smooth

    cl smooth 1,629

    Posted

    Also: I never want to see another 103-105 mph+ reliever ever again. horsefeathers that horsefeathers.

    UMFan83

    UMFan83 3,016

    Posted

    1 minute ago, chibears55 said:

    It not 2-3-2 ?

    It’s a 5 game series

    • Like 1
    PeanutPunch33

    PeanutPunch33 209

    Posted

    that was a great win, that 9th inning had collapse written all over it and they found a way to get it done 

    Napoleon Dynamite Dance GIF

    Ding Dong Johnson

    Ding Dong Johnson 1,520

    Posted

    6 hours ago, Ding Dong Johnson said:

    I just walked around Petco and put a hex on the team. Tuck is having a big day today.

    I’ll read this thread later. I expect to see a lot of thank yous. 

    • Haha 1
    Brian707

    Brian707 1,519

    Posted

    Just now, cl smooth said:

    Same. I am making an old fashioned to take the edge off. 

    I'm drinking a celebratory bourbon.  Cheers!

    Tangled Up in Plaid

    Tangled Up in Plaid 409

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

    It not 2-3-2 ?

    It's 5 games



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