Any hopes of a deep October run come down to Thursday.
The Chicago Cubs face a win-or-go-home Game 3 against the San Diego Padres after a 3-0 loss Wednesday 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.
“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.
The pivotal moment came in the fifth as the Cubs trailed 1-0.
Counsell had opted for veteran reliever Andrew Kittredge to start the game to limit left-hander Shota Imanaga’s exposure against the top of the Padres lineup, specifically right-handed sluggers Fernando Tatís Jr. and Manny Machado. But when San Diego’s order turned over in the fifth, Counsell stuck with Imanaga.
Tatís worked a one-out walk and Luis Arráez put down a sacrifice bunt to advance Tatís into scoring position for Machado with two outs. Rather than intentionally walk Machado or bring in right-hander Michael Soroka, who had been warming in the bullpen since the start of the inning, Counsell let Imanaga stay in to face the Padres star.
Machado immediately made the decision hurt.
Imanaga left a first-pitch splitter over the middle that Machado crushed into the left-field bleachers for a no-doubt, two-run homer and a 3-0 Padres lead.
“For me it was just like, ‘Why did that happen?’ and it’s something I’m going to think about,” Imanaga said through interpreter Edwin Stanberry.
Counsell weighed intentionally walking Machado with first base open and lefty Jackson Merrill on deck but didn’t consider using Soroka in that moment. He later noted there were a couple of unnamed spots the Cubs thought about utilizing Soroka.
“Look, the results suggest that we should have done something different,” Counsell said. “Really just confidence in Shota, plain and simple there. I thought he was pitching well. I thought he was throwing the ball really well, and unfortunately he made a mistake.”
The Padres knew how Imanaga likes to attack: fastballs up, splitters down. It’s no secret his pitch mix makes him susceptible to the long ball, but it has gone to another level this year. He had been tagged for at least one home run in nine consecutive starts, and his 31 homers allowed were tied for fourth in the majors.
Machado was aware of all of that when he stepped into the box in the fifth.
“I mean, that knowledge is great, but that knowledge is not great against me,” Machado said with a grin. “He kind of owns me a little bit. You look at the numbers, I don’t do too well.”
Machado came into that at-bat 1-for-10 with six strikeouts in his career versus Imanaga. His lone hit? A home run.
“He’s got good stuff — you’ve always got to respect that,” Machado said. “He threw the ball well. Even the at-bat before, he threw me a really good (splitter) down and away. I think he was probably trying to do the same thing, and he just missed it a little bit.”
Kittredge avoided a potentially disastrous first inning after surrendering back-to-back singles to open the game. He ultimately allowed one run on Merrill’s sacrifice fly that followed a double steal by the Padres.
“He made good pitches,” Counsell said. “Sometimes you get really good hitters and they get a hit. What are you going to do?
“He made the pitches that you’d want him to make in that inning, so I give them credit for putting together a good inning and having good at-bats.”
Imanaga entered to the start the second and went four innings, giving up two runs, three hits and two walks while striking out three. He knew his first-inning struggles (7.20 ERA) had been problematic this year, some of which related to his feel for his fastball.
“I thought he pitched very well,” Counsell said. “The stuff was crisp. There was a couple walks, but that was just giving them his best stuff and I thought he threw the ball well.”
The Cubs had only two baserunners after the fourth inning: Michael Busch’s hit by pitch with two outs in the eighth and Kyle Tucker’s one-out single in the ninth — their first hit since Seiya Suzuki doubled with two outs in the fourth. But Tucker was erased as Suzuki grounded into a game-ending double play.
The Cubs will turn to right-hander Jameson Taillon to start Game 3, with a matchup against the Milwaukee Brewers — who had the majors’ best record — awaiting Thursday’s winner in the NL Division Series.
“The first two games is really what you expected in this series, and I think (Thursday) will be a lot of the same,” Counsell said. “We’re made for that.
“We’re going to have to produce more offense, there’s no question. We didn’t do enough offensively today — three at-bats with runners in scoring position, that’s going to be tough to put up more than a single run. That’s going to be the challenge.”
