Padres-Cubs NL Wild Card Series Game 2 Matchup By The Numbers

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With a chance to advance to the NL Division Series, the San Diego Padres will be looking to build off a tremendous overall performance in their postseason opener.

Right-hander Nick Pivetta will get the start for the Padres in Wednesday's Game 2 of the NL Wild Card Series against the Chicago Cubs at Petco Park (7 p.m., Peacock). The Padres are coming off an 8-0 victory in Game 1 of the best-of-three series. The winner of this series advances to face the Milwaukee Brewers in the best-of-five NLDS beginning Saturday in Milwaukee.

Pivetta missed five months with an elbow injury, only to surprisingly return after just three rehab outings. The Padres' Opening Day starter made four starts in September, showing better form in each outing, the last one 4⅔ innings shutout innings, striking out seven with no walks and allowing four hits. He pitched 18⅔ innings in those four outings, none more than five innings. Considering the Padres' bullpen remains at full strength with another day of rest for the key arms (Mason Miller, Adrian Morejon, Jason Adam and Bradgley Rodriguez), another five innings from Pivetta would be exactly what manager Craig Stammen is likely to draw up for Game 2. That is thanks to right-hander Michael King's brilliant Game 1 performance that only required one inning each from left-hander Yuki Matsui and the return of right-hander Joe Musgrove after two years on the shelf following Tommy John surgery.

The Cubs managed just three hits in Game 1, none coming until the seventh and two coming from Nico Hoerner. This is MLB's best offense, though they did have a slow September. Of the hitters in the Cubs' lineup, shortstop Dansby Swanson has the best track record against Pivetta (.294/.314/.500), but he has had a bad season at the plate with a slash line of .213/.297/.397. Like King showed in Game 1, Pivetta will need to keep Pete Crow-Armstrong and Alex Bregman in check. Pivetta will be paired with 20-year-old catcher Ethan Salas, who has caught all four of the right-hander's starts since his return as well as his final rehab outing. Cubs manager Craig Counsell is likely to pull some trick to get the Cubs' bats going. One option is putting Bregman back at third base, where he has yet to play following the facial fractures he sustained a week ago Sunday, then putting Michael Conforto in as the designated hitter.

Nick Pivetta vs. Chicago Cubs: Current Batters Table
Rk	Player	B	PA	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	GIDP
1	Dansby Swanson	R	35	34	10	1	0	2	5	1	11	.294	.314	.500	.814	0
2	Michael Conforto	L	15	13	2	0	0	2	2	2	3	.154	.267	.615	.882	1
3	Ian Happ	B	11	10	3	1	0	0	0	1	6	.300	.364	.400	.764	0
4	Alex Bregman	R	8	7	2	0	1	0	1	1	3	.286	.375	.571	.946	0
5	Carson Kelly	R	6	6	3	0	1	0	1	0	3	.500	.500	.833	1.333	0
6	Michael Busch	L	5	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.000	.200	.000	.200	0
7	Seiya Suzuki	R	5	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.200	.200	.200	.400	1
8	Pete Crow-Armstrong	L	4	3	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	.333	.500	.333	.833	0
9	Nico Hoerner	R	4	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000	0
10	Matt Shaw	R	2	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.500	.500	.500	1.000	0
11	Tyrone Taylor	R	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000	.500	.000	.500	0

Provided by Stathead: Found with Stathead. See Full Results.
Generated 9/29/2026.

As Fernando Tatis Jr. showed yet again, the Padres' offense can be dangerous from the first pitch. Next up for the Padres to solve is right-hander Kevin Gausman, who would have been the Game 1 starter had he not sustained an injured left shoulder while making a diving defensive play last week. Gausman got an extra day and now the Cubs' season rests on the trade-deadline acquisition.

Gausman hasn't exactly instilled a great deal of confidence, posting a 4.81 ERA over nine starts since coming over from the Toronto Blue Jays. He has walked 11 and struck out 57 in 50⅓ innings. The good news for the Padres is that their top hitters have had success against Gausman. Tatis and Manny Machado have two homers each in 24 and 25 plate appearances, respectively, while Xander Bogaerts is 17-for-60 in his career (.283/.317/.367) with a homer. All three homered in Game 1, when the Padres banged out 13 hits.

If Game 1 is any indication, Tatis is poised to have a big postseason as long as the Padres are alive. In addition to his first-pitch homer to begin the game, Tatis led off the bottom of the seventh with a single, then stole second and turned on the afterburners and scored after the throw bounced into shallow left-center, electrifying the Petco Park crowd.

Kevin Gausman vs. San Diego Padres: Current Batters Table
Rk	Player	B	PA	AB	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	SH	HBP	GIDP
1	Xander Bogaerts	R	63	60	17	2	1	5	2	14	.283	.317	.367	.684	0	1	1
2	Manny Machado	R	25	25	9	1	2	3	0	3	.360	.360	.640	1.000	0	0	0
3	Fernando Tatis Jr.	R	24	23	8	1	2	3	1	5	.348	.375	.652	1.027	0	0	0
4	Ty France	R	21	18	6	1	0	1	2	5	.333	.429	.389	.817	0	1	0
5	Jake Cronenworth	L	19	19	2	0	0	1	0	6	.105	.105	.105	.211	0	0	1
6	Austin Hays	R	16	14	7	1	2	4	2	5	.500	.563	1.000	1.563	0	0	0
7	Gavin Sheets	L	11	9	1	1	0	0	2	3	.111	.273	.222	.495	0	0	0
8	Jackson Merrill	L	6	6	0	0	0	0	0	3	.000	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0
9	Walker Buehler	R	4	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000	.000	1	0	0
10	Luis Campusano	R	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0
11	Sung-Mun Song	L	2	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	.000	.500	.000	.500	0	0	0

Provided by Stathead: Found with Stathead. See Full Results.
Generated 9/29/2026.

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