Padres hope to ride energy from
loud home crowd when they host Cubs in NL Wild Card Series
[September 29, 2026]
By BERNIE WILSON
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Back in 1984, Tony Gwynn, Steve Garvey and the San
Diego Padres used the energy from their home crowd at Jack Murphy
Stadium to rally from a 2-0 deficit in the National League
Championship Series and stun Ryan Sandberg, Gary Matthews and the
Chicago Cubs to reach their first World Series.
The players, stadium and playoff round are different now. But
Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and the Padres hope to tap that
home energy once again when they open a Wild Card Series against NL
MVP frontrunner Pete Crow-Armstrong, Alex Bregman and the Cubs
starting Tuesday night at packed, raucous Petco Park.
From the Padres’ standpoint, it’s way better than last year, when
they lost 2-1 to the Cubs in the wild-card round at Wrigley Field in
Chicago.
The fourth-seeded Padres will host every game in the best-of-three
series against the fifth-seeded Cubs. The winner will face the NL
Central champion Milwaukee Brewers in a best-of-five Division
Series.
The Padres had 66 sellouts and their total attendance of 3,347,081
this season was second in the majors behind the rival Los Angeles
Dodgers at 4,034,219.
“It’s great. It’s nice to feel 45,000 people behind you, waving the
yellow towels,” rookie manager Craig Stammen said Monday. “It’s just
a good feeling when you go out there and get the lineups announced
that we’re at home. There are no boo-birds and the whole fan base is
for us and not against us.”
Chicago left-hander Matthew Boyd (10-5, 3.91 ERA) and Padres
right-hander Michael King (12-10, 3.21) are scheduled to start
Tuesday night.
Some big stars
Crow-Armstrong, who grew up in the Los Angeles area, made his case
for NL MVP by becoming the first Cubs player to join the 40-40 club,
with 45 home runs and 41 stolen bases.
Machado hit 30 homers for the eighth time in his big league career
and fourth time in his eight seasons in San Diego.
Tatis had an unfathomable home run drought to start the season,
taking until his 56th game, at Washington on May 30, to connect for
the first time. He’s now recorded his fourth 25-homer season and has
38 stolen bases. He continues to make jaw-dropping home run
robberies in right field, like the one that denied Francisco Lindor
a grand slam at the New York Mets on Aug. 18. Tatis hit two homers
in that game.
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The score board at Petco Park showing the San Diego Padres will host
the Chicago Cubs on Sept. 29 for the National League Wild Card
series Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Karl
Anderson)
The matchup
The Cubs dominated San Diego 5-1 in the season series, including
handing the Padres their worst loss ever, 23-3 at Wrigley Field on
July 1, when they hit eight home runs.
But the Padres turned it around after the All-Star break, going
43-23, the second-best mark in the majors, to clinch their
club-record third straight postseason berth and, at 91-71, their
third consecutive 90-win season.
“I think we’re firing on all cylinders,” King said. “I think the
last two months, 2 1/2 months, the offense has possibly been the
best in baseball. We’ve really come together as a starting rotation,
and the bullpen is obviously a strong piece. I think that, when you
look at us, we don’t really have many weaknesses.
“I think that we’re very confident in what we’ve been doing the last
few weeks, and we’re very happy that this is the time that we got
hot, and we’ve just got to continue it throughout all this
postseason.”
Alex Bregman update
Bregman went 4 for 4 with two home runs and four RBIs as the
designated hitter Sunday in his second game back from a frightening
injury.
Bregman took grounders at third base during Monday's workout, but
manager Craig Counsell isn't sure when he'll return to third base.
“I haven’t made a decision there yet,” Counsell said. “I think today
was a much better day than kind of how he looked in Tampa. I think
it’s just a sign on like how he’s feeling just overall. The
fractures are not healed. You know, it’s just how he’s feeling, kind
of just pain-wise and things like that. Moving around, swelling,
like, just much less. He still has fractures in his face and I think
that’s kind of what we have to weigh.”
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