Padres sweep Cubs after Gavin Sheets' pinch-hit homer, advance to face Brewers

The San Diego Padres beat the Chicago Cubs 4-1 at Petco Park late Wednesday, September 30, completing a two-game National League Wild Card Series sweep. They won the opener 8-0, then finished the series with the same formula: early runs, enough pitching and a timely blow when Chicago threatened to stay close.

The pivotal swing came from Gavin Sheets, who entered as a pinch-hitter in the fourth inning. With San Diego ahead 2-1, Sheets drove a two-run home run off Cubs reliever Daniel Palencia to make it 4-1. MLB's game story says the pitch was 100.8 mph, the fastest pitch a Padre has homered off in the pitch-tracking era.

Xander Bogaerts had put the Padres on the board with an RBI single in the second. Nico Hoerner singled in Chicago's only run in the fourth, cutting the lead to one before Sheets answered in the bottom half. The Cubs did not score again.

One swing changed the margin

Nick Pivetta lasted 3⅓ innings for San Diego, and the bullpen carried the rest. MLB's final game record credits Bradgley Rodriguez with the win and Mason Miller with the save. Miller struck out two in a scoreless ninth to close the series.

San Diego outscored Chicago 12-1 in the two games. That total is striking, but the narrower fourth-inning margin in Game 2 better explains why Sheets' at-bat mattered. Without it, the Padres still had a lead; with it, they had a three-run cushion to hand their bullpen.

What the sweep says

For Chicago, the exit is abrupt after a season that brought Pete Crow-Armstrong and Alex Bregman into the heart of its October hopes. MLB's Cubs recap notes that the pair combined to go hitless in 15 at-bats across the series. San Diego's pitchers kept the Cubs' most prominent bats from changing either game.

The Padres now travel to Milwaukee for a best-of-five NL Division Series against the Brewers. MLB's schedule lists Game 1 for Saturday, October 3, at 8:30 p.m. Eastern. The sweep is settled; the next assignment is against a club that had a first-round bye and the Majors' best regular-season record.