Seiya Suzuki and Carson Kelly hit back-to-back homers, helping the Chicago Cubs beat the San Diego Padres 3-1 on Tuesday in Game 1 of their NL Wild Card Series. Chicago also got a perfect performance from its bullpen in the franchise's first playoff win since the 2017 National League Championship Series.

None of that matters now. The Cubs are back and they are not going to be an easy out as they showed the Padres today. The Padres played well, but they got beat. The Cubs need one more win to earn an all expenses paid trip to Milwaukee. Whew. If that isn’t the worst lottery prize I’ve ever heard of.

The Chicago Cubs ' three-game postseason series against the San Diego Padres continues at 3:08 p.m. ET on Wednesday at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois. The Cubs currently own a 1-0 lead. Date: Wednesday, Oct. 1

Two years after the Cubs fired him to hire Craig Counsell, Ross "badly" wants to manage again. "It’s an itch that hasn’t gone away."

The Cubs are set to face Padres right-hander Nick Pivetta. He posted a 2.87 ERA in 31 regular-season games, including two starts against the Cubs. In the first, the Cubs tagged him for three runs in three innings. But he held them at bay the next time he faced them, limiting them to one run and four hits in six innings.

The Chicago Cubs will take on the San Diego Padres in Game 1 of their first playoff series since 2020. Fans are hoping this will lead to another Champion.

Against surprise 2025 standout Matthew Boyd on the mound for the Cubbies, San Diego took an early lead in this game when Xander Bogaerts rocketed a ball into the left-center gap for an RBI double. After gaining that lead in the top half of the second, Nick Pivetta and the Dads kept Chicago scoreless through their first four chances on offense.

There are a bunch of Cubs players who can contribute in all phases of the game, which is one of the reasons why the North Siders finished the regular season at 92-70 and earned a spot in the National League Wild Card Series against the Padres.