The man the San Diego Padres fanbase dubbed “Dairy Bonds” stepped to the plate as a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the fourth inning with the Padres leading 2-1 after the Chicago Cubs scored a run in the top of the inning. Xander Bogaerts hit a one-out double off Cubs starter Kevin Gausman and that knocked the right-hander out of the game. Chicago called on right-hander Daniel Palencia and he got the second out of the inning with a strikeout of Ethan Salas. Austin Hays was scheduled to hit, but San Diego manager Craig Stammen called on Gavin Sheets to pinch-hit and he delivered a two-out, two-run home run that was crushed deep into the right field bleachers to give the Padres a three-run lead en route to a 4-1 win and a series sweep at Petco Park on Wednesday night.
The home run from Sheets caused the fans to erupt and seemed to deflate the Cubs, who struggled on offense throughout the two-game series. Nick Pivetta started the game much like Michael King in the Game 1 win on Tuesday night. Pivetta struck out Pete Crow-Armstrong and Alex Bregman. Pivetta then got Michael Busch to groundout to get the San Diego offense to the plate.
There were no first-inning dramatics for the Padres in Game 2, but they did break open the scoring with two runs in the bottom of the second inning. San Diego was unable to add to its lead until the Sheets home run in the fourth and did not score after, but the four runs were all that were needed by the Padres.
Pivetta pitched into the fourth inning, but allowed a run after a single, a walk and a single and Stammen went to the bullpen for Bradgley Rodriguez. The rookie reliever struck out the first batter he faced, then hit the next batter, but left the bases loaded when he got Dansby Swanson to fly out to Jackson Merrill in center field.
The bullpen took over the game after the fourth. Rodriguez returned to the mound and pitched a scoreless fifth inning and Jason Adam pitched a scoreless sixth inning. Adrian Morejon pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth inning before Mason Miller came in for the save to close out the game and the series which allowed the Padres to get the win and advance to the National League Division Series against the Milwaukee Brewers.
San Diego will be off Thursday and Friday and will open the NLDS in Milwaukee at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Padres News:
- Joe Musgrove did not disappoint in his return to the Padres, and his one inning of work seemed like a performance pulled from a movie.
- This is the third consecutive season the Padres have made the postseason and Thomas Conroy of Gaslamp Ballfeels like something is different this time around.
- Ethan Salas started Game 2 for the Padres and became the youngest player ever to catch a postseason game.
- Dennis Lin of The Athletic recapped the memorable moments from San Diego’s Game 1 win over Chicago.
- Former Padres utility man Tyler Wade announced his retirement from MLB.
- As good as the play was on the field, the fans and the stadium took center stage for San Diego in the Wild Card Series.
Baseball News:
- The Chicago White Sox swept the Houston Astros and got a series win for the first time since 2005.
- The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves in extra innings and forced a decisive Game 3.
The New York Yankees knocked off the Boston Red Sox to advance to the second round of the MLB playoffs.