In the wake of a mad dash that took him from a stolen-base attempt to scoring from second on a throw that landed in shallow left-center field,Fernando Tatis Jr. felt he might pass out as he made his way through the dugout in Tuesday’s seventh inning.
He said as much to any teammate within earshot.
It was all too much — the frenzied crowd, the overwhelming dominance, the way it all came together to form the perfect playoff opener for his San Diego Padres.
Even Tatis couldn’t handle it.
“Just the energy of our fans, our group, how we’re feeling playing at home — all that stuff just adds together,” Tatis said after the Padres’ 8-0 drubbing of the Chicago Cubs in Game 1 of their National League Wild Card Series at Petco Park. “You just feel like your blood is running inside your body so fast.”
The Padres entered these playoffs hoping the momentum they built over the past two regular-season months would carry over, then saw that play out immediately.
Michael King began his start by firing 98 mph fastballs, setting the tone for a start in which he carried a no-hitter through six innings and stymied the Cubs’ best hitters. Tatis hit the first pitch he saw for a home run, a 405-foot blast off a Matthew Boyd changeup that went for the Padres’ first leadoff home run in postseason history and paved the way for a thorough offensive onslaught.
And in the end, there was Joe Musgrove the longtime ace and hometown favorite, working around a bases-loaded jam to preserve a shutout while pitching in his first game in two years. Before Musgrove, no pitcher had gone at least 700 days without pitching in a game and then returned for the playoffs.
“It was amazing, man,” said Musgrove, who has seen his return from Tommy John surgery be slowed by multiple setbacks this season. “I’m sure coming back in any scenario would feel good, but to come back in a playoff situation, with the crowd the way they were at home — yeah, it was perfect.”
For the Padres, everything about their playoff opener was.
They handed the Cubs, who scored more runs than anybody in baseball this season, their first shutout in 132 playoff games all time, and they notched their largest playoff shutout in franchise history. Tatis, Manny Machado, Jackson Merrill and Xander Bogaerts, the Padres’ four star position players, combined for eight hits, three home runs and five batted balls over 103 mph. King held the Cubs hitless through 6 innings, registering the longest no-hit bid since Anibal Sanchez lasted 7 innings in the 2019 National League Championship Series.
Nico Hoernerdelivered the Cubs’ first hit — a dribbler down the third-base line, immediately after King was delayed by a PitchCom issue, that Machado caught with a slide but couldn’t convert into an out.
“I was pissed,” Machado said. “I knew what was on the line, so I wanted to make the play. The PitchCom messed us up on that one. Technology, I guess, these days.”
King happily settled for seven scoreless innings that saw him ditch his changeup for far more sweepers and rack up eight strikeouts, five of which came against Pete Crow-Armstrong and Alex Bregman.
“It was just an overall dominating outing by him,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said. “He used all his pitches. They were all working, especially his fastball. That was electric tonight.”
The Padres have absorbed rotation concerns all season. Their depth was tested, their reinforcements struggled, their injured players were slow to return. But all throughout, King was their ace. He made 32 starts, putting up a 3.21 ERA in 185 regular-season innings, and he was at his best against arguably the game’s best lineup.
“I always feel like I like the adrenaline,” King said. “I like the pressure. It gives me confidence knowing that the team has confidence in me to pitch in these games.”
The Padres were 50-53 on July 23, but they put up a major league-best 35-17 record in August and September. A lot of that was boosted by the energy of their home ballpark, where they won 21 of 26 games in that stretch. Their rotation depth also filled out around that time, providing more support for their lights-out bullpen.
Mostly, though, it was a product of their offense coming to life. Of Merrill and Tatis completely turning their seasons around. Of Machado continuing to hit home runs despite not hitting for average. Of Ty France producing like one of the game’s top first basemen. Of Luis Campusano, Samad Taylor, Dustin Harris, Luis Rengifo and Ethan Salas, among others, filling in along the way.
“It hasn’t been roses as a group all year,” Machado said. “We battled through ups and downs, and I think we learned from that. And it was great to go through those struggles.”
Game 1 showed that.
It began with King throwing harder than he has in years, got punctuated by Tatis scoring off an attempted steal of second base and was capped by Musgrove making an emotional return. The best part, perhaps: Adrian Morejon and Mason Miller the Padres’ two dominant backend relievers, were not used.