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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 3,121

    Posted

    3 minutes ago, Wilson A2000 said:

    That looked like a pitch clock violation

     

     

    IMG_4464.jpeg

    Picture is not conclusive, I believe he just needs to start his windup before it hits 0

    • Like 4
    s2obed

    s2obed 80

    Posted

    Just now, BigSlick said:

    The saddest thing is knowing there was no reality where Shaw makes contact at all 

    Shaw is in his first full MLB season, easier said than done to do what people expect.

    Matthew Trueblood

    Matthew Trueblood 439

    Posted

    1 minute ago, UMFan83 said:

    Picture is not conclusive, I believe he just needs to start his windup before it hits 0

    That's right. Effectively, he called timeout just as the play clock was hitting zero. No delay of game. (This is still how I think about it, even though I'm no great football fan. 😄 )

    Guest

    Guest

    Posted

    Oooof jameson looking like our top starter TBH

    UMFan83

    UMFan83 3,121

    Posted

    Ugh I just got a notification on my phone to buy Brewers-Cubs tickets in 2 days.  Don't do that during the deciding game of the previous round lol

    • Like 1
    muntjack

    muntjack 258

    Posted

    Jamo!!!!

    Jason Ross

    Jason Ross 2,689

    Posted

    Ja-mo. Ja-mo. Ja-mo.

    Hortonhearsawho

    Hortonhearsawho 93

    Posted

    Taillon is dealing love to see that. 

    ILMindState

    ILMindState 288

    Posted (edited)

    8 minutes ago, Caesar said:

    Shut up stupid

    Did you get offended as well? Wow no real men exist anymore. 

    Edited by ILMindState
    • Haha 2
    • Love 1
    s2obed

    s2obed 80

    Posted

    Just now, Pinerider said:

    Oooof jameson looking like our top starter TBH

    He has been on a roll in the last month +

    • Like 1
    chibears55

    chibears55 989

    Posted

    That the way to keep momentum on our side, great job Taillon 

    cl smooth

    cl smooth 1,758

    Posted

    King horsefeathers from Taillon.

    muntjack

    muntjack 258

    Posted

    Make them throw pitches.  It will pay dividends. 

    Derwood

    Derwood 3,604

    Posted

    Made an All-Star look like a minor leaguer right there

    Rex Buckingham

    Rex Buckingham 753

    Posted

    If Jamo gets through one more I like his chances to get through the 5th

    BigSlick

    BigSlick 719

    Posted

    Hell yeah. Taillon is cruising. 

    Matthew Trueblood

    Matthew Trueblood 439

    Posted

    Even though they didn't blow it open, forcing Estrada to throw 17 pitches in the 2nd was big. Outs vs. available/trustworthy arms clock is ticking a lot louder for the Pads right now than for the Cubs.

    • Love 1
    Stratos

    Stratos 523

    Posted

    7 minutes ago, Wilson A2000 said:

    That looked like a pitch clock violation

     

     

    IMG_4464.jpeg

    He already started his motion

    UMFan83

    UMFan83 3,121

    Posted

    Just now, Pinerider said:

    Oooof jameson looking like our top starter TBH

    When he's on his really good.  Consistency and the HR ball on occasion have been his issues.  But if you look at his game log, he really only has 4 poor starts this year out of 23, and 2 of them came immediately before he missed a month with an injury so its possible that played into the poor starts.  Also a 3rd was his first start of the season.

    Wilson A2000

    Wilson A2000 635

    Posted

    David Haugh is in the booth for Cubs radio?

    squally1313

    squally1313 2,342

    Posted

    Ian Happ: figure it the horsefeathers out 

    muntjack

    muntjack 258

    Posted

    3 minutes ago, muntjack said:

    Make them throw pitches.  It will pay dividends. 

    Or,  you know, don't. 

    Jason Ross

    Jason Ross 2,689

    Posted

    Needed him to throw more pitches than this. 



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