SAN DIEGO — Major League Baseball’s best offense in the regular season will be watching the rest of the playoffs from home.

After a season defined by extreme highs and lows, the Chicago Cubs played from behind in all but one inning and were swept in a National League wild-card series against the San Diego Padres with a 4-1 loss Wednesday night.

Four Cubs pitchers — Kevin Gausman, Daniel Palencia, David Peterson and Ryan Zeferjahn — kept the Padres in check enough to give the offense a chance. This team was built around offense and defense, and the bats never came alive in a disappointing performance. The group underwhelmed, managing just one run and nine hits over the 18 innings in the series.

Game 2 photos: Chicago Cubs at San Diego Padres

Their offensive futility started at the top with the Cubs’ best two hitters. Pete Crow-Armstrong, looking to deliver a better postseason performance than a year ago, and Alex Bregman, playing despite multiple facial fractures, combined to go 0-for-15 with eight strikeouts and one walk in the two games.

The depth of the lineup, a strength in the regular season, yielded little. Only four players had a hit in the two-game sweep: Nico Hoerner (four), Seiya Suzuki (two), Tyrone Taylor (one) and Carson Kelly (one). Hoerner’s one-out double in the ninth Wednesday represented their only extra-base hit of the series.

The woes at the plate became a recipe for postseason disaster.

Hoerner’s single up the middle in the fourth produced the Cubs’ lone wild-card run. Dansby Swanson had a particularly rough night at the plate. Twice he was at the center of wasted scoring opportunities. With two on and nobody out in the third against Padres starter Nick Pivetta, Swanson worked a 3-0 count before striking out on a fastball near his ankles. Crow-Armstrong then popped out and Bregman flied out to end the inning.

The big moment found Swanson again the following inning. Padres reliever Bradgley Rodríguez hit Kelly to load the bases, but Swanson flied out on the first pitch from the right-hander off a 99.3-mph fastball up and in.

The Cubs finished 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position in the loss and left six runners on base.

Gavin Sheets’ pinch-hit two-run home run off Palencia, with the Padres faithful chanting “Holy Sheets!” as the at-bat began, provided the big blow in the fourth inning minutes after Hoerner pulled the Cubs within a run.

For a team that touted its veteran experience all year, especially heading into the postseason, the Cubs ultimately failed to rise to the moment. They will be left to wonder if the series would have played out differently had they not squandered home-field advantage in the final week of the regular season after going 4-1 at Wrigley Field during the 2025 playoffs.

The elimination situation is a position Craig Counsell was familiar with as Wednesday represented his 20th postseason game as a manager.

“The back’s against the wall,” Counsell said before Game 2. “It’s a real thing, and it’s a great place to be. I think some people might not like it. I think athletes love it. Put my back against the wall, and I’ve got to fight. I’ve got to fight or it’s over. That’s a good place to be.”

The Cubs, though, never seemed to settle in during the series. The majors’ top run-scoring offense and leader in home runs didn’t put much pressure on the Padres.

One of the better teams with their hitters’ usage of the ABS system in the regular season, the Cubs weren’t as judicious on a night when the slimmest of margins could determine whether their season ended or continued. Crow-Armstrong challenged a strike-three call to lead off the first inning that replay showed nearly half the ball inside the zone. Then the Cubs lost their second challenge when Kelly tapped his helmet from behind the plate for a review with nobody on in the third for a would-be 3-2 count to Fernando Tatís Jr.

The Cubs head into an offseason full of uncertainty. Beyond the looming lockout, the Cubs have questions to solve, particularly surrounding a pitching staff that was decimated by injuries and how to build a roster that can go deeper in the playoffs after falling short of expectations two consecutive years.