If the San Diego Padres can bottle Wednesday’s performance, they could beat any team in the MLB postseason.

Manny Machado reminded Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell he’s still dangerous in the matchup game, four Padres pitchers led by Dylan Cease threw an ultra-high-speed shutout and the defense got gems from right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. and shortstop Xander Bogaerts.

So put away the golf clubs. The Padres get to play another ballgame.

Wednesday’s 3-0 victory means Thursday’s winner-take-all Game 3 will determine who plays the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Division Series.

There’s no doubting the biggest play Wednesday. Machado, pouncing on a fat first pitch in the fifth inning, hit a two-run, two-out home run to inflate the lead to 3-0.

Machado’s follow-through spun the slugger toward left field, affording him a clear view of his home run. Machado, backpedaling, soaked up that view.

When a man in a white Cubs jersey barehanded the ball 400 feet away — high up the left-field pavilion — Machado turned and hollered at teammates while thousands of folks in San Diego surely whooped it up too.

Counsell’s non-move had backfired.

The left-handed Shota Imanaga had worked three-plus innings when Counsell allowed him to face the right-handed Machado with Tatis on second base, first base open and lefty Jackson Merrill on deck.

It seemed Counsell might create a righty-versus-righty matchup.

In fact, several minutes earlier, when Tatis drew a one-out walk, a Cubs broadcaster suggested Counsell would do just that. He noted Imanaga had misfired a split-finger pitch or two that could’ve been hammered.

Counsell seemed to buy Machado’s struggles of recent months more than his career track record.

After Luis Arraez bunted Tatis over, another scenario arose: Might Imanaga try to pitch around Machado, walking him if he didn’t chase pitches early in the count, thus bringing up Merrill?

The chess game ended fast.

Imanaga dangled a splitter. When Machado hit it for his fifth home run in 14 games, the Padres’ probability of winning soared to more than 80%.

Game 2 photos: San Diego Padres 3, Chicago Cubs 0

The Cubs barely touched Cease over 3 2/3 innings, and relievers Adrian Morejón (seven outs), Mason Miller (five) and Robert Suarez (three) had no walks and six strikeouts across the final 5 1/3.

But this game will be remembered for Machado’s home run and the possibilities it suggested for a team that finished third from the bottom in homers this season and lacks its third-best power hitter, Ramón Laureano, who fractured a finger last month.

To go far, the Padres also will need home runs from Tatis, who had 25 this year. Because their pitchers can overpower opponents, the Padres would rejoice over any surges from their offense.

Wednesday’s quartet of pitchers unleashed heat that felt like Death Valley in the peak of summer. Of all the pitches thrown in the game, the 79 fastest were by the four Padres pitchers. The top 11, ranging from 102.1 to 104.5 mph, came from Miller, who now has struck out 21 of his last 29 hitters.

Cease threw several pitches at 100 mph, if we can round up the fractions. Thirty-one pitches by the Padres starter were faster than the hottest pitch thrown by a Cub — a 96.3 mph offering from Michael Soroka, the righty reliever Counsell opted against matching against Machado.

In Game 3, the Padres won’t have as much velocity. They’re counting on Yu Darvish, 39, to pitch closer to his 2.56 ERA in six playoff games with them than his 5.38 ERA in 72 innings this year.

Mike Shildt’s pitching usage in Game 2 suggests starting pitcher Michael King may be called upon for multiple innings of relief.

The teams now have split the eight games they’ve played this year. But with the Cubs’ hottest starter, Cade Horton, out after breaking a rib while coughing, the Padres hold a tiny edge.

Originally Published: October 1, 2025 at 7:42 PM CDT