The Padres beat the Cubs 3-0 on Wednesday to force a decisive Game 3 on Thursday. The Padres jumped all over opener Andrew Kittredge in the first inning. Fernando Tatis Jr. led off with a single, followed by Luis Arraez moving him to second base with a single of his own. After Manny Machado struck out, both runners advanced on a double steal, and Jackson Merrill brought Tatis home with a sac-fly. Unfortunately, Arraez got stranded at third and the Padres were only able to score one run in the 1st.
Dylan Cease pitched very well, striking out 5 over 3.2 shutout frames. With the Padres leading 1-0 with 2 outs in the bottom of the 4th inning, Cease yielded a double to Seiya Suzuki. Mike Shildt opted to have him intentionally walk Carson Kelly, to setup a lefty-lefty matchup between Adrian Morejon and Pete Crow-Armstrong. Morejon won the battle, getting PCA to ground out to first base to end the inning.
The Padres struck again in the top of the 5th inning. After Freddy Fermin struck out to begin the inning, Tatis Jr. worked a walk after falling behind in the count. Arraez then bunted Tatis over to second base, and with two outs, Manny Machado put his slump to bed and blasted a 2-run homer on the first pitch he saw from Shota Imanaga to put the Padres up 3-0. The Padres never looked back, as Morejon, Mason Miller and Robert Suarez hurled 5.1 scoreless innings, allowing just two baserunners over that span. The Padres forced a win or go home Game 3 on Thursday, with Yu Darvish drawing the start for the Padres.
You can watch the Jamul Casino Resort Padres Postgame Show below, with full highlights from the game and Mike Shildt, Dylan Cease and Manny Machado's postgame press conference.