Fernando Tatis Jr. hit the first leadoff homer in Padres playoff history on the Cubs’ first pitch, Michael King took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and San Diego rolled to an 8-0 victory over Chicago in their NL wild-card series opener on Tuesday night at San Diego.
Manny Machado also homered in the first inning and added an RBI double in the third during an emphatic opening statement by the 91-win Padres. Xander Bogaerts also homered off Cubs starter Matthew Boyd, and Jackson Merrill added a two-run single later.
San Diego provided more than enough support for King, who struck out eight over seven stellar innings while thoroughly throttling the majors’ highest-scoring team. King set the tone by striking out probable NL MVP Pete Crow-Armstrong with the game’s first three pitches.
Nico Hoerner got the Cubs’ only hit off King with a one-out infield single in the seventh, but King racked up two more strikeouts to earn the last of several standing ovations from the raucous sellout crowd watching his third career playoff start.
Game 2 is Wednesday night at Petco Park. The series winner faces the MLB-best Milwaukee Brewers in the best-of-five division series.
Chicago had just one hit before getting to Joe Musgrove, the Padres veteran making his first major league appearance since Oct. 2, 2024, in the ninth inning. The Cubs got two singles and a walk before Musgrove struck out pinch-hitter Michael Conforto to preserve the shutout in his return from Tommy John surgery.
The Padres dominated the opener of this rematch of last fall’s Wild Card Series, won by the Cubs in three tight games. San Diego scored more runs in the first five innings of this series opener than it did last year in all three games at Wrigley Field combined.
Boyd’s opening pitch was a changeup, and Tatis crushed it 405 feet to center in a blast reminiscent of his first-inning homer in Game 1 of San Diego’s 2024 NL wild-card series victory over Atlanta.
Moments later, Machado smashed another changeup out to left-center, setting off pandemonium at Petco with his franchise-record ninth postseason homer.
at Atlanta 5, Philadelphia 3—Austin Riley hit a three-run homer off All-Star closer Jhoan Duran in the eighth inning and the Atlanta Braves rallied past the Philadelphia Phillies 5-3 on Tuesday in the opener of a best-of-three National League wild-card Series.
Duran (0-1), who gave up just two homers in 61 regular-season games, gave up a single to Michael Harris II before hitting Ozzie Albies with a pitch. Riley drove the go-ahead blast over the wall in right-center field. Harris had three hits.
The Braves can clinch the series Wednesday and end the Phillies’ history of postseason success in the NL East rivalry. Philadelphia beat Atlanta in the 1993 NLCS and the 2022 and 2023 NLDS.
Riley’s go-ahead homer was especially satisfying after he hit only .219 with 19 homers in a frustrating regular season.
“Especially knowing how my season was not the way I wanted it, that’s why the postseason is a clean slate,” Riley said, adding he was “trying to do something good” for his teammates.
Braves ace Chris Sale said Riley never let his struggles affect his approach to the game during the regular season.
“You couldn’t tell if he was the leading MVP candidate or if he was struggling,” Sale said. “I really mean that. He’s the same guy. He kept doing the work and had a great moment.”
Sale dueled early against Phillies left-hander Jesus Luzardo, who was sharp after missing time down the stretch with left shoulder inflammation. Luzardo was expected to make an abbreviated start, but he pitched one-run ball over five innings with 77 pitches.
“In my mind if we got 75 pitches from him today we would be in a pretty good spot,” Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said of Luzardo. “… He kind of gave us more than we thought honestly.”