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    Cubs-Padres Game Two Thread: Imanaga's Opener Is A Necessary Evil

    The Padres face the prospect of elimination if they can't win today at Wrigley Field.
    Brandon Glick

    By Brandon Glick

    Image courtesy of © David Banks-Imagn Images

    Cubs Video

    Chicago will treat today as a tandem day on the mound: Andrew Kittredge will open, then Shota Imanaga will follow with a bulk outing. Kittredge worked a clean eighth yesterday. This season, he has held right-handed hitters to a .690 OPS and left-handed hitters to a .541 OPS while his season FIP sits at 3.40. Over his last six starts, Imanaga has a 5.97 ERA with 12 home runs allowed in 34 2/3 innings, and he has allowed 31 homers in 144 2/3 frames this year. 

    Imanaga Against Padres Hitters

    Shota Imanaga 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 Luis Arráez L 10 9 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .111 .200 .111 .311 0 0 0 0 0
    2 Xander Bogaerts R 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0
    3 Manny Machado R 9 9 1 0 0 1 1 0 6 .111 .111 .444 .556 0 0 0 0 0
    4 Fernando Tatis Jr. R 9 8 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 .375 .444 .375 .819 0 0 0 0 0
    5 Jake Cronenworth L 6 6 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 .333 .333 .500 .833 0 0 0 0 0
    6 Martín Maldonado R 6 5 1 0 0 1 1 1 2 .200 .333 .800 1.133 0 0 0 0 1
    7 Jose Iglesias R 4 4 3 1 0 0 1 0 0 .750 .750 1.000 1.750 0 0 0 0 0
    8 Jackson Merrill L 3 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 .333 .333 .667 1.000 0 0 0 0 0
    9 Freddy Fermin R 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .500 .000 .500 0 0 0 1 0
    10 Gavin Sheets 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 10/1/2025.

    Dylan Cease draws a conventional start for San Diego. His overall season included ups and downs, but his September trend was upward: in five starts last month, he recorded a 3.12 ERA with a 2.56 FIP.

    Cease Against Cubs Hitters

    Dylan Cease 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 Ian Happ B 24 21 1 0 0 0 0 3 10 .048 .167 .048 .214 0 0 0 0 1
    2 Willi Castro B 23 23 5 0 0 1 2 0 8 .217 .217 .348 .565 0 0 0 0 0
    3 Kyle Tucker L 14 12 4 1 0 0 1 2 3 .333 .429 .417 .845 0 0 1 0 0
    4 Nico Hoerner R 13 9 2 1 0 0 0 3 2 .222 .462 .333 .795 0 0 1 1 0
    5 Michael Busch L 9 8 2 0 0 2 4 1 4 .250 .333 1.000 1.333 0 0 0 0 0
    6 Justin Turner R 8 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .125 .125 .125 .250 0 0 0 0 0
    7 Pete Crow-Armstrong L 5 4 2 1 0 0 1 1 1 .500 .600 .750 1.350 0 0 0 0 0
    8 Dansby Swanson R 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0
    9 Reese McGuire L 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0
    10 Seiya Suzuki R 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0
    11 Matt Shaw R 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .500 .500 .500 1.000 0 0 0 0 0
    Provided by Stathead.com: Found with Stathead. See Full Results.
    Generated 10/1/2025.

    Bullpen usage from yesterday shapes how both sides can deploy relief behind today’s starters. For Chicago, Matthew Boyd covered 4 1/3 innings before the bullpen recorded a postseason-record stretch by retiring 14 consecutive batters without a baserunner. Daniel Palencia handled 1 2/3 innings, followed by one inning each from Drew Pomeranz, Kittredge, and Brad Keller. 

    San Diego used four relievers behind Nick Pivetta’s five innings. Mason Miller pitched the 7th inning. Adrian Morejon covered one inning. Jeremiah Estrada worked 2/3 of an inning, and Wandy Peralta recorded the final 1/3 of the 8th. That usage left the Padres’ late-inning group relatively fresh for today, with Cease on a standard starter’s workload. 

    Matchup-wise, Kittredge’s opening inning will likely see him face Fernando Tatis Jr., Luis Arraez, and Manny Machado. The Cubs used him yesterday in that same section of the order. Once Imanaga enters, Chicago can stagger right-on-left plate appearances with him and their bullpen cavalry.

    Writer | Director | Author

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

    Follow Brandon Glick on Twitter: brandonglick (on BlueSky)

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    Featured Comments

    Jason Ross

    Jason Ross 2,541

    Posted

    Just now, cubfansince77 said:

    I'm not a big stats guy so....I stand corrected. It's good news, cuz like I said, he's gonna be here next year. So that begs the question: how does Jed improve the offense next season? Some of the pups are almost ready: Mo/Caissie/Alcantara....but that's a big leap of faith.

    They'll have a lot of money if they don't go the Tucker route. But there's still plenty of playoff baseball. So I'll worry about that when I need to! 

    JBears79

    JBears79 201

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, JHBulls said:

    Remember when people used to be in awe of Aroldis Chapman throwing 100? Now it’s seems like 20-30 guys around baseball throw 102-105 consistently. 

    Yeah and the Cubs have zero of those guys because Hoyer focuses on bums who throw 92 

    • Like 1
    Caesar

    Caesar 10

    Posted

    1 minute ago, Caesar said:

    Seems like his bat speed has slowed down and his base running speed as well. He is really slow now.

    They can take a chance on Tucker at a lot lower than what he had expected . Otherwise just go with Cassie and use that money somewhere else

    Jason Ross

    Jason Ross 2,541

    Posted

    Just now, s2obed said:

    Yep, the key is getting to Yu obviously irregardless of who is available/unavailable.

    And it'll put them in a weird spot. They either have to ride Darvish for 5 innings, and he's been bad, or they have to give innings to relievers who haven't pitched in 4+ days to eat the innings if they pull him early. Or they'll have to let Miller and Estrada go extra long on three-days rest. 

    Regardless, the Padres are going to be in a worse spot pitching than the Cubs tomorrow because the Cubs were able to get useful innings in what seems like a losing effort from Colin Rea and hopefully Taylor Rogers. While the Padres used their horses in a loss.

    ILMindState

    ILMindState 277

    Posted

    1 minute ago, JBears79 said:

    Yeah and the Cubs have zero of those guys because Hoyer focuses on bums who throw 92 

    People in these threads just say anything 

    • Haha 2
    Jason Ross

    Jason Ross 2,541

    Posted

    Miller coming back out. Get him to 30 pitches today too. 

    There's an art in losing the right way. Maybe today isn't going to be a W, but you can set yourself up tomorrow as good as you can by exhausting this guy.

    • Like 1
    cubfansince77

    cubfansince77 79

    Posted

    6 minutes ago, s2obed said:

    Yep, the key is getting to Yu obviously irregardless of who is available/unavailable.

    The mission is clear and obtainable....he's still pretty good but not what he once was. We have 5 innings tomorrow to get to him.

    s2obed

    s2obed 80

    Posted

    1 minute ago, cubfansince77 said:

    The mission is clear and obtainable....he's still pretty good but not what he once was. We have 5 innings tomorrow to get to him.

    Right. We are the better team. Gotta get to Milwaukee. That will be an epic series if it happens imo.

    • Like 1
    Manny Trillos Brother

    Manny Trillos Brother 15

    Posted

    Remember when Andrew Miller was "unhittable" until he wasn't. A couple of really good ABs here can completely change the course of this game/series/season.

    • Like 1
    Caesar

    Caesar 10

    Posted

    Embarrassing 

    cl smooth

    cl smooth 1,629

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, Manny Trillos Brother said:

    Remember when Andrew Miller was "unhittable" until he wasn't. A couple of really good ABs here can completely change the course of this game/series/season.

    that's fair, but he was also running on fumes by the end of the world series. 

    Caesar

    Caesar 10

    Posted

    Nico will make contact 

    Jason Ross

    Jason Ross 2,541

    Posted

    Just now, Caesar said:

    Embarrassing 

    Mason Miller is literally throwing 103mph. What's embarrassing about striking out against this dude?

    Caesar

    Caesar 10

    Posted

    Nico hit and then a bomb! Watch!

    UMFan83

    UMFan83 3,016

    Posted

    Was it Kyle that used to obsess about how the Cubs would always get eliminated losing 3 straight games without any offense?  Obviously they can win tomorrow but the offense feels a lot like 2007, 2008, 2018 and 2020 when it just feels like it's impossible for the Cubs to string 2 hits together much less a run.  They definitely found a way to get 3 yesterday but today is rough and hopeless feeling.

    Stratos

    Stratos 503

    Posted (edited)

    Was it Carson Kelly or Machado that they bleeped when Machado hit that HR? Lol

    Edited by Stratos
    UMFan83

    UMFan83 3,016

    Posted

    Can someone more versed in Padres pen tell me which high leverage arms are in good shape tomorrow if Suarez finishes this game?  Really just Miller and Morejon that are limited since Suarez didnt pitch yesterday right?

    s2obed

    s2obed 80

    Posted

    Just now, Stratos said:

    Was it Carson Kelly or Machado that they bleeped when Machado hit that HR? Lol

    Manny 

    Jason Ross

    Jason Ross 2,541

    Posted

    The Cubs straight up cannot catch a break today. 

    UMFan83

    UMFan83 3,016

    Posted

    Of course leaping catch to rob him of extra bases and a chance to bring the tying run up

    Jason Ross

    Jason Ross 2,541

    Posted

    Just now, Stratos said:

    Was it Carson Kelly or Machado that they bleeped when Machado hit that HR? Lol

    Machado. There was a close up him yelling horsefeathers year in one of the shots.

    Tangled Up in Plaid

    Tangled Up in Plaid 409

    Posted

    1 minute ago, UMFan83 said:

    Can someone more versed in Padres pen tell me which high leverage arms are in good shape tomorrow if Suarez finishes this game?  Really just Miller and Morejon that are limited since Suarez didnt pitch yesterday right?

    Estrada, and they'll probably use King.

    ILMindState

    ILMindState 277

    Posted

    What was the xBA on that one?



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