The ghosts of Wrigley Field’s storied playoff past were finally put to rest on Thursday night as the Chicago Cubs gutted out a 3-1 victory over the San Diego Padres in Game 3 of the National League Wild Card Series. It was the Cubs’ first postseason series triumph since their unforgettable 2016 World Series run, a drought that had fans in the Friendly Confines holding their collective breath through a tense ninth inning.
The win sends Chicago into the NL Division Series against the Milwaukee Brewers starting Saturday at American Family Field, setting up a delicious subplot with Cubs manager Craig Counsell facing his former club—where he managed to five playoff berths in six seasons before jumping ship last winter. The Cubs owned the season series 7-6 but trailed the Brewers by five games in the NL Central standings, promising fireworks in what could be one of the most emotionally charged matchups of the postseason.
From the jump, the Cubs set the tone with a blend of opportunistic offense and lockdown defense that echoed their championship form of nearly a decade ago. Starter Jameson Taillon, making his first playoff appearance since 2019, retired the Padres in order in the first, getting a massive assist from center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong’s sliding robbery of Manny Machado’s line drive to end the frame—a play that had the Wrigley crowd erupting early.
The bottom of the second proved to be Yu Darvish’s undoing. The veteran right-hander, in his 14th career postseason start, watched helplessly as leadoff hitter Kyle Tucker singled, Seiya Suzuki doubled him to third, and catcher Carson Kelly took a fastball off the elbow to load the bases with nobody out. Crow-Armstrong followed with a sharp single to center, plating Tucker for a 1-0 lead and prompting Darvish’s quickest exit of his career after just one-plus innings. Reliever Jeremiah Estrada inherited the jam but walked Dansby Swanson to force home Suzuki, pushing the score to 2-0. Estrada escaped further damage by striking out Matt Shaw and inducing a Michael Busch grounder into an inning-ending double play.
Taillon cruised through four innings, allowing just two hits while the Cubs’ infield turned in clinic. In the sixth, Swanson made a sprawling stop on Jackson Merrill’s 105.2 mph one-hopper and fired to first for the out, then initiated a 6-3 double play on the next batter to slam the door. The following half-inning, second baseman Nico Hoerner leaped for a spectacular grab on a soft liner from pinch-hitter José Iglesias, preserving the shutout and underscoring Chicago’s up-the-middle wizardry that took potential runs off the board all night.
The Cubs tacked on insurance in the seventh against Robert Suarez. Busch, who had grounded into that crucial double play earlier, launched a solo homer to right-center—his first playoff dinger—extending the lead to 3-0. Tucker, the sparkplug acquired in a blockbuster trade last summer, added a fielder’s choice grounder later in the frame but had already notched two singles on the night, showcasing the disciplined plate approach that could carry Chicago deep into October.
San Diego’s vaunted bullpen—featuring Estrada, Michael King, Suarez, and Adrian Morejon—kept the game in striking distance, stranding runners in the fifth and limiting Chicago to single digits in hits after the explosive second. But the Padres’ offense, which had blanked the Cubs 3-0 in Game 2 to force the decider, mustered just seven hits and couldn’t solve Taillon or the Cubs’ relievers like Caleb Thielbar and Daniel Palencia.
The ninth brought the drama, as the Padres loaded the bases with two outs against closer Porter Hodge, but he induced a game-ending groundout to seal the series-clinching victory. It marked Chicago’s first winner-take-all triumph at Wrigley in the stadium’s 50th postseason contest, a fitting cap to a series where the Cubs won the opener before dropping Game 2.
For the Padres, the loss stings after a resilient regular season that earned them the No. 3 wild card. Darvish’s early unraveling left their sturdy relief corps without a lead to protect, a cruel twist in their playoff ouster. Still, the fight they showed in forcing Game 3 bodes well for a quick rebound in 2026.
As the Cubs celebrate into the night, the focus shifts to Milwaukee, where Counsell returns as the villain in a brewing rivalry. With Tucker’s bat heating up and the defense playing like world-beaters, will Chicago extend their October run?
