Fly the W! Cubs top Padres for first postseason series win since 2017
David Banks - USA Today Sports

Fly the W! Cubs top Padres for first postseason series win since 2017
Dustin Riese Dustin Riese  ·  Senior Writer ·  10 hours ago

CHICAGO - It may have taken eight years, but the drought is over as the Chicago Cubs have won a playoff series for the first time since 2017 and will now advance to the NLDS against the Milwaukee Brewers. To make things even better, the Cubs were able to clinch this series in front of the Wrigley Field faithful, which is something they hadn't done since topping the Dodgers in Game 6 of the 2016 NLCS.

Despite their struggles against the San Diego Padres in this series, particularly with their bullpen, the Cubs have had considerable success in double-elimination games over the past decade, boasting a 4-1 record in such contests. With all players on deck for whatever situation presented itself, it was the Cubs who grabbed an early lead for the first time in this series and never looked back, taking down the Padres 3-1 to secure a trip to their first NLDS since 2017.

Talk about a whirlwind season for right-hander Jameson Taillon, as he may go down as the hero of this series. Since returning from the IL, Taillon has arguably been the Cubs' best arm, along with Cade Horton, which is hard to believe in itself. Not knowing what to expect from Taillon, who was making his third career postseason start, the big right-hander did everything the Cubs asked him to do as he gave Craig Counsell four scoreless innings to set the tone for what became a battle of the bullpens late.

On the flip side, the Padres countered with former Cub Yu Darvish, who was hoping one good start could erase a season that has been a rough one for the most part. Expecting to be on a short leash, as was every pitcher in this game, the Cubs knew how vital it was to score first, as they needed to get in front before the Padres could deploy their pen.

That message rang true in the second inning with Kyle Tucker starting things off with a single before advancing to third on a Seiya Suzuki double. Following a hit by pitch to Carson Kelly to load the bases, it was Pete Crow-Armstrong coming through with his first career postseason knock as his RBI single put the Cubs in front for good, 1-0.

Darvish was finished after that at bat as he threw just 21 pitches before Jeremiah Estrada and the Padres pen took over. Estrada took a little bit to settle in, walking Dansby Swanson to push home another run, only to escape what could have been a massive inning by getting Michael Busch to ground into an inning-ending double play.

Apart from that, it was business as usual for the Padres pen, although the Cubs were able to put together much better at-bats this time around, leading to more traffic on the bases. With Taillon out of the game following his four innings, everyone was wondering how Counsell would go about using his pen to record the final 15 outs.

You got a sense of how things would play out early on as Caleb Thielbar faced the left-handed pocket of the Padres lineup to begin the fifth, allowing just a Gavin Sheets single in the process. He gave way to Daniel Palencia, who, despite allowing a double to Freddy Fermin to put two runners on, gave the Cubs 1 1/3 scoreless innings as his addition to the pen has been a welcome sight to begin the postseason.

The Cubs had a chance to extend their lead in the fifth off Wandy Peralta as Michael Busch led things off with a single, only to get erased on a rare Nico Hoerner double play. To show how crucial that double play was, Ian Happ followed that up with a double that would've scored a run, but instead resulted in just a two-out hit as the Cubs failed to deliver the insurance run they needed.

One inning later, and it was the same story for the Cubs off Robert Suarez as a pair of one-out singles set the Cubs offense up, only to come away empty. The key to the game came in the seventh inning, and it came after Drew Pomeranz entered following a Xander Bogaerts leadoff single, as the left-hander worked through the pocket of the Padres lineup he needed to face, keeping them off the board for another inning.

What came next is by far the biggest hit of Busch's career thus far as he unloaded for a solo blast to begin the Cubs' half of the seventh, putting the Cubs on top 3-0 and sending Wrigley into a frenzy. His homer was followed by a Hoerner double, but after failing to drive in Hoerner, an eerie feeling emerged that it might come back to haunt this team.

With six outs to work with and the key part of the Padres lineup coming to bat, the choice was clear, as this was Brad Keller's moment to shine. Keller has been by far the Cubs' most valuable relief arm this season, and after working a scoreless eighth, Chicago was three outs away from sending the Padres home.

As expected, the Padres wouldn't go home quietly as Jackson Merrill ended what was an excellent series for him by leading off the ninth with a homer to make this a 3-1 game. Things only got more stressful from there as a pair of one out hit by pitches from Keller brought the winning run to bat and forced Counsell to make another pitching change with Andrew Kittredge called on to close things out.

Already used in both games, including as the opener in game two, this was a questionable decision, especially considering the amount of pressure it brought. However, Kittredge lives for the moment, and he has proven to be one of the steals of the trade deadline for the Cubs as he retired both hitters he faced to secure the save, sending the Cubs to the NLDS to face Milwaukee on Saturday.

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Fly the W! Cubs top Padres for first postseason series win since 2017
Fly the W! Cubs top Padres for first postseason series win since 2017
Single game tickets for NLDS games at Wrigley Field go on sale Friday
Single game tickets for NLDS games at Wrigley Field go on sale Friday
WATCH: Highlights of Cubs' playoff series win against Padres
WATCH: Highlights of Cubs' playoff series win against Padres
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