Chicago Cubs in the playoffs: Recapping their wild-card series win

The Chicago Cubs used stellar pitching, elite defense and a methodical offensive approach with timely hits to beat the San Diego Padres to advance to the NL Division Series against the Milwaukee Brewers, their division rivals and owners of baseball’s best record.

The Cubs were 6-13 at Wrigley Field in elimination games — including 0-3 in winner-takes-all games — before their Game 3 win. Those previous win-or-go-home losses occurred in the 1945 World Series, 2003 NL Championship Series and 2018 wild-card game. They were 4-4 overall in such games, with their last win coming in the 2017 NLDS at the Washington Nationals.

Here’s how the series unfolded.

Game 1: Cubs 3, Padres 1

Seiya Suzuki jolted the 39,114 fans onto their feet at Wrigley Field with a 112.2 mph laser off Padres starter Nick Pivetta into the bleachers to tie the score in the fifth inning. Moments later, catcher Carson Kelly took Pivetta deep to left-center field to put the Cubs ahead on back-to-back homers.

Daniel Palencia, Drew Pomeranz, Andrew Kittredge and Brad Keller combined to toss 4 2/3 perfect innings in relief for a 3-1 victory in the best-of-three series — the Cubs’ first playoff win since 2017 and their first postseason game since 2020. Nico Hoerner’s sacrifice fly in the eighth provided a late insurance run.

Playoff newcomers stood out as Suzuki, Kelly, Hoerner (two singles) and Michael Busch (single and intentional walk to set up the sac fly) were responsible for five of the Cubs’ six hits. Read more here.

• Column: Cubs ‘OGs’ get the job done in ‘really good day’ — and a Game 1 win at Wrigley Field
• Cubs Game 1 notebook: Dansby Swanson’s stellar defense — and Carson Kelly’s day to remember
• Padres Game 1 notebook: Nick Pivetta’s day turns on 2 pitches in ‘hats-off-to-him kind of situation’

Game 2: Padres 3, Cubs 0

The Cubs face a win-or-go-home Game 3 against the San Diego Padres after a 3-0 loss evened the best-of-three National League wild-card series in front of 41,083 fans who were left waiting for a moment to erupt and energize Wrigley Field.

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“It would have been really nice to just get this series over with today,” center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong said. “But we’re also prepared to come back tomorrow and do it again.”

The Cubs’ lack of offense again created a slim margin for error. They didn’t have much of an answer for Padres starter Dylan Cease or San Diego’s notoriously tough bullpen. On a quiet day for a lineup that produced just four hits — one after the fourth inning — manager Craig Counsell’s pitching decisions come under scrutiny.

• Column: Puzzling decision by manager Craig Counsell backfires — and now Cubs head to do-or-die Game 3
• Cubs come up empty against Dylan Cease and a fireballing Padres bullpen in Game 2 loss
• ‘This is why I’m here’: Cubs’ Jameson Taillon ready for decisive Game 3 start at Wrigley Field
• Padres relievers — with Mike Shildt pushing the right buttons — deliver big-time in series-tying win
• Mason Miller’s 104.5 mph fastball for Padres was the fastest of career — and in pitch-tracking era
• Padres turn to aging Yu Darvish, whose focus is clear for Game 3 start: ‘He’s a big-game player’

Game 3: Cubs 3, Padres 1

Andrew Kittredge made sure to take a moment on the mound to soak in the atmosphere before he threw his first pitch.

The 40,895 raucous fans packed into Wrigley Field were on their feet radiating anxious tension as the Cubs’ last two outs seemed elusive to finish off the Padres in Game 3 of the wild-card series. Reliever Brad Keller hit two Padres with pitches, giving them two runners on and the go-ahead run at the plate. The Cubs, on the verge of advancing, again went to Kittredge, acquired at the trade deadline from the Baltimore Orioles, for a third consecutive day.

“Then I kind of overthrew my pitch into the dirt,” a champagne- and beer-soaked Kittredge said, grinning in a rowdy clubhouse afterward.

The veteran reliever, called on in the biggest moment of a win-or-go-home Game 3, retired the Padres’ Freddy Fermin and Jake Cronenworth to strand the runners on second and third, saving the Cubs’ 3-1 win and advancing them in the postseason for the first time since 2017.

• Column: Reminders of past W’s help fuel the Cubs in a ‘special’ season
• From ‘a beer shower from Tom Ricketts’ to more cowbell: Cubs’ celebration extra sweet at Wrigley Field
• Jameson Taillon sets the pitching tone for the Cubs in clincher with ‘kitchen-sink approach’
• Column: Cubs survive tense elimination game, clearing their 1st playoff obstacle with flying colors
• Cubs make quick work of Padres’ Yu Darvish in shortest start of his 13-year career

Flashback to 1984 as Cubs and Padres meet again in the postseason

Flashbacks from 1984 are a painful but necessary part of understanding the history of the Cubs and Padres as they meet in a wild-card series at Wrigley Field.

It really was the best of times for Cubs fans, who had gone 39 years without a postseason team, only to watch Ryne Sandberg, Rick Sutcliffe and a scrappy bunch lift the Cubs to a National League East title.

And then it turned into the worst of times for those same fans, who watched the Cubs blow a 2-0 lead in the National League Championship Series and lose Game 5 in San Diego thanks in no small part to a ground ball through the legs of first baseman Leon Durham, whose glove was sticky from a Gatorade spill. Read more here.

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Nico Hoerner takes consistency — and ‘competitive fire’ — into postseason

Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner always plays with an edge.

His impact on the field and on those around him did not go unnoticed by his teammates. Beyond contending for the National League batting title, what Hoerner does behind the scenes resonates within the clubhouse. Known for his prep work in the cage and weight room, the little things at times can be as valuable as on-field results.

“I think what people don’t necessarily understand about Nico is just his competitive fire and spirit,” shortstop Dansby Swanson told the Tribune. Read more here.

• What we learned from the Cubs’ workout day, including Matthew Boyd’s Game 1 start and wind conditions
• Photos: Cubs work out at Wrigley Field before the wild-card series
• Cubs set wild-card roster: Rookie Moisés Ballesteros is included — but catcher Miguel Amaya isn’t
• Padres reliever Jeremiah Estrada has come a long way since the Cubs DFA’d him on his 25th birthday

How the Cubs got here

The Cubs finally can take the postseason bunting out of the mothballs. Playoff baseball will return to Wrigley Field for the first time in five years, and for the first time with fans inside the ballpark since 2018.

The Cubs clinched home field for their National League wild-card series with a 7-3 win over the Cardinals on Saturday. Manager Craig Counsell said clinching home field at home was “really important and really special” for the players and coaches, but more so for Cubs fans.

This wild Cubs season has had quite a few highs and lows, from opening day in Tokyo to Saturday’s win that clinched the home wild-card series. Read more here.

• Column: 5 players the Cubs need to step up to make a long postseason run
• After clinching 1st playoff berth in 5 seasons, Cubs like their chances: ‘Let’s make some noise’
• ‘This is just our 1st taste’: How the Cubs celebrated their return to postseason in a giddy clubhouse