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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

    Bertz

    Bertz 2,652

    Posted

     

     

     

     

    • Like 1
    Jason Ross

    Jason Ross 2,541

    Posted

    This will be on repeat for the next 48 or so hours.

    • Like 1
    • Love 3
    Guest

    Guest

    Posted

    Jameson is pitching sharp. If boyd can regain his form that's a decent 1-2 punch at the top

    soccer10k

    soccer10k 546

    Posted

    47 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

    They want all 4 division series starting on the same day so they can have a quadruple header. I guess the NL gets the day off between games this year. Works for me to give our arms a rest

    I assume that since they like having all the WC games on the same 3 days, they want to give the two bye teams a bit of an advantage. Otherwise a team could throw their ace on normal rest in Game 1. Now you’d have to throw him on short rest.

    JHBulls

    JHBulls 856

    Posted

    Have we got the NLDS schedule yet or nothings confirmed?

    A quick google search shows Game 1 tomorrow and Game 2 on Sunday. 

    Irrelevant Dude

    Irrelevant Dude 1,546

    Posted

    1 minute ago, JHBulls said:

    Have we got the NLDS schedule yet or nothings confirmed?

    A quick google search shows Game 1 tomorrow and Game 2 on Sunday. 

    Game 1 Saturday. Followed by Monday, Wednesday, Thursday.

    • Like 1
    Irrelevant Dude

    Irrelevant Dude 1,546

    Posted

    4 minutes ago, Pinerider said:

    Jameson is pitching sharp. If boyd can regain his form that's a decent 1-2 punch at the top

    I haven't ever been the biggest fan of Taillon, but he is their best starter right now.  He has looked outstanding the last few weeks.

    • Like 1
    JHBulls

    JHBulls 856

    Posted

    1 minute ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

    Game 1 Saturday. Followed by Monday, Wednesday, Thursday.


    Awesome! Thank you. 
     

    I guess we will get times after this game. Appreciate it. 🙂

    gflore34

    gflore34 966

    Posted

    8 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

    This will be on repeat for the next 48 or so hours.

    I remember that just like was today!!!

    • Like 1
    Irrelevant Dude

    Irrelevant Dude 1,546

    Posted

    Just now, JHBulls said:


    Awesome! Thank you. 
     

    I guess we will get times after this game. Appreciate it. 🙂

    Just looking at the full schedule for NLDS/ALDS - Assume an early to mid afternoon game Saturday and an early evening game Monday.  Games 3 and 4 at Wrigley will most likely be afternoon for Game 3 and early evening again for Game 4.

    • Love 1
    squally1313

    squally1313 2,225

    Posted

    7 minutes ago, soccer10k said:

    I assume that since they like having all the WC games on the same 3 days, they want to give the two bye teams a bit of an advantage. Otherwise a team could throw their ace on normal rest in Game 1. Now you’d have to throw him on short rest.

    Happy for our sake this isn’t the case, but I’m a big fan of starting the divisional series the next day after the wild card. You want the best teams to advance and win, make it as hard as possible on the teams without the bye. 

    SOFNR

    SOFNR 81

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, JHBulls said:


    Awesome! Thank you. 
     

    I guess we will get times after this game. Appreciate it. 🙂

    I believe 1pm if the Yankees win. 8 if its the Red Sox.

    • Love 1
    gflore34

    gflore34 966

    Posted

    In the off season I'd like to see the Cubs pursue Cease.  Cease, Horton, Boyd, Shota, Taillon could be okay.

    Hortonhearsawho

    Hortonhearsawho 84

    Posted

    The day off is going to be huge for our bullpen because even Kittredge should be good to go on Saturday. 

    • Like 1
    JHBulls

    JHBulls 856

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

    Just looking at the full schedule for NLDS/ALDS - Assume an early to mid afternoon game Saturday and an early evening game Monday.  Games 3 and 4 at Wrigley will most likely be afternoon for Game 3 and early evening again for Game 4.


    Had a look. Game 2 has a 9:08PM ET time set, the other games don’t.

    https://www.mlb.com/postseason

    Soul

    Soul 595

    Posted

    13 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

    This will be on repeat for the next 48 or so hours.

    I still miss Len.  That was so fun.

    • Like 2
    Guest

    Guest

    Posted

    4 minutes ago, gflore34 said:

    In the off season I'd like to see the Cubs pursue Cease.  Cease, Horton, Boyd, Shota, Taillon could be okay.

    Steele?

    gflore34

    gflore34 966

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, Pinerider said:

    Steele?

    Knew I was forgetting someone, was it May or early June for his ETA?

    Soul

    Soul 595

    Posted

    10 minutes ago, SOFNR said:

    I believe 1pm if the Yankees win. 8 if its the Red Sox.

    Looking like 1pm at the moment.

    Guest

    Guest

    Posted

    I feel like Boyd gets the start Saturday TBH. Had a short outing in game 1

    gflore34

    gflore34 966

    Posted (edited)

    The Yankees' starter looks real good, real good. Despite this, I've complete faith in the Yankees bullpen to allow the Red Sox, at some point, to bring the tying run to plate.

    Edited by gflore34
    Irrelevant Dude

    Irrelevant Dude 1,546

    Posted

    It was nice to see Tucker get a few more hits, and hopefully he can keep that up, but it is still concerning to have him in the middle of the order with no slug and station to station (at best) on the bases.

    UMFan83

    UMFan83 3,016

    Posted

    1 minute ago, Pinerider said:

    I feel like Boyd gets the start Saturday TBH. Had a short outing in game 1

    I dunno if pitching him on short rest is ideal considering his signs of wear and tear and the fact that he’s pitched over 100 innings more than he has in any of the last 3 seasons. 

    • Like 1
    CUBDOM4life

    CUBDOM4life 98

    Posted

    27 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

    This will be on repeat for the next 48 or so hours.

    I was there that day! Was a memory of a lifetime 

    • Love 1
    Derwood

    Derwood 3,372

    Posted

    Yankees pitcher's name is fraught on several levels



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