Game Recap: Cubs walk seven in loss to Padres

Denis Poroy - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - Wednesday, April 16 2025

SAN DIEGO - For the first time in nearly a month, the Chicago Cubs (12-9) lost a series, and it came at the hands of the MLB-best San Diego Padres (15-4). One day after handing the Padres their first loss of the season at Petco Park, the Cubs found themselves in another low-scoring pitchers duel with Matthew Boyd and Nick Pivetta putting on a show.

This time, the Padres found a way to get it done as they doubled up the Cubs 4-2 to hand the Cubs their first series loss since Tokyo. The loss gives the Cubs a 3-3 record to close out their West Coast trip, and had that been what you had predicted when the season started, nearly everyone would have been on board with that.

However, when you look at how a few of these games transpired, the Cubs very easily could've been 4-2 if not 5-1 on this trip, and it would have a much different feel to it. There have been a lot of impressive storylines for the Cubs to start the season, and Matthew Boyd is one of those storylines.

Although he was saddled with the loss, which dropped him to 1-2, Boyd did his part to win this game. He gave the Cubs 5 1/3 innings, allowing two runs to put his ERA at 2.01. The problem is that Pivetta was even better. He continued to impress his new team by going six innings, striking out six and allowing one run, and his ERA fell to 1.57 for the season.

As was the case for most of this series, the offense was tough to come by in the early innings as neither team managed to score a run through two. Then came the third, when the Cubs not only opened the scoring but had a chance to break the game wide open and put the Padres in a massive hole. It all started with a leadoff single from Carson Kelly before advancing to second on a Jon Berti walk.

Ian Happ followed that up with a sharp single to right as the Cubs loaded the bases with no outs. Looking to bring home the game's first run, Kyle Tucker did his job by picking up a sacrifice fly, but with Seiya Suzuki grounding into an inning-ending double play shortly after, the Cubs saw their potential big inning come to a crashing halt.

Not to be outdone, the Padres offense came roaring back as they got to Boyd in the bottom half of the third. What started with a one-out walk to Elias Diaz was followed by a pair of singles, including one from Fernando Tatis Jr, to drive in the tying run. Boyd came close to keeping the score tied only to have Manny Machado come through for the second time in as many games to put the Padres in front 2-1, and they never looked back.

With the Cubs offense struggling to do much of anything against Pivetta at this point, the Padres offense had a chance to break the game open as Boyd was faced with a massive jam in the fifth. This time, it was a two-out rally that set the Padres up, with Tyler Wade picking up his second hit in as many at-bats to extend the inning while an error allowed Tatis Jr to reach base.

Looking to keep the line moving, it was Luis Arraez coming away with an infield hit to load the bases, only to have Boyd escape the massive jam with the score still 2-1. Boyd managed to finish his outing without allowing a run before giving way to Daniel Palencia, who finished off the sixth without further damage. Then came the seventh as the Padres went with Jeremiah Estrada in the top half of the inning while Palencia came back out for the bottom half.

Estrada did his part to keep the Cubs off the board, but the same couldn't be said for Palencia, who was again in trouble. Anytime you walk the leadoff man, which Palencia did, it tends to haunt you in the end, and with Machado cashing in with a two-out double, the Padres did cash in on that leadoff walk to extend the lead to 3-1.

Given how well the Cubs offense has played this season, a two-run deficit may not seem like that big of a deal, but with the Padres bullpen posting a 1.74 ERA so far this season, runs were going to be tough to come by. That was until Pete Crow-Armstrong led off the top of the eighth with a solo shot off of Wandy Peralta to pull the Cubs within 3-2.

Chicago continued to keep the pressure on with Ian Happ coming through with a two-out double, but it was Peralta standing tall and getting Kyle Tucker to strikeout to end the threat. That was the final scoring opportunity for the Cubs in this one as Luke Little entered the bottom of the eighth and proceeded to walk four batters, including Tatis Jr, to push home the final run in a 4-2 Padres win.