Padres vs Cubs
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By: Senior Reporter Jordan Bastian covers the Cubs for MLB.com
SAN DIEGO — This was not how this Cubs’ season was supposed to end. This script offered the ballclub the same path through October as a year ago, giving the North Siders a shot at redemption after last fall’s postseason exit against the rival Brewers.
FINAL: Padres 4, Cubs 1 pic.twitter.com/DTRHFmBMMy
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) October 1, 2026
This was the 10th anniversary of the 2016 triumph and a year featuring an MVP-caliber performance from Pete Crow-Armstrong. It was a season in which the front office went all in over the winter and again at the Trade Deadline. A deep run was the expectation, but the Padres never flipped through the first draft of Chicago’s story.
Nico Hoerner with RISP. pic.twitter.com/zeFxdHRqNr
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) October 1, 2026
On Wednesday night, the Padres sent the Cubs into an early offseason with a 4-1 victory that completed a sweep in the National League Wild Card Series at Petco Park. And now Chicago’s players, staff and roster builders will get to work on dissecting how a team with baseball’s best defense and highest-scoring offense was sent packing so soon.
Play ball! pic.twitter.com/X5EZ9a3kvp
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) October 1, 2026
Meanwhile, it will be the Padres who head to Milwaukee for the National League Division Series.
GOT 'EM pic.twitter.com/reemRMs99v
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) October 1, 2026
In the final game of what will go down as a season of missed opportunity, the Cubs’ dynamic duo of Crow-Armstrong and Alex Bregman was silenced by San Diego’s pitching staff for a second straight game. They combined to go 0-for-15 with eight strikeouts in the two losses.
holy sheets, stadium noise only pic.twitter.com/ulMUHeS3hV
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) October 1, 2026
Cubs righty Kevin Gausman — one of the marquee additions at the Deadline — worked into the fourth in an outing of mixed results, much like his brief tenure with the team.
Sent that one to the Milky Way 💫 pic.twitter.com/fUeoYiLiQP
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) October 1, 2026
And the biggest blow arrived in the fourth inning, when Cubs reliever Daniel Palencia unleashed a 100.8 mph fastball and watched pinch-hitter Gavin Sheets send it rocketing into the right-field stands for a two-run homer. The Petco Park crowd erupted, and the odds were swiftly stacked against the Cubs, given the elite arms the Padres would roll out of their bullpen.
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