After dropping the first two games of the series to the Cubs in terrible fashion, the Padres looked to turn the tide in the finale.

San Diego (43-41) looks to grab some momentum before they head to Los Angeles for a four-game series against the Dodgers.

The Chicago Cubs (48-38) try to complete the sweep and win their fifth of six games against San Diego in 2026.

Walker Buehler, maybe the Padres’ most consistent starter in 2026 take the bump in the series finale. Buehler owns a 3.81 ERA in his 16 starts.

Former Padre, Colin Rea, started the game for Chicago. Rea looks to have a better month of July off than his month of June, where he would pitch to a 5.04 ERA in 25 innings.

Sheets in the 2

Gavin Sheets bats second and plays left field, the day after his three-run homer.

Closing out the series. pic.twitter.com/BNwFg3hrVv

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) July 1, 2026

Cubs strike for nine runs

Seiya Suzuki crushes his 100th career home run to give the Cubs an early 3-0 lead.

SAVE THAT BASEBALL!

Seiya crushes career home run No. 100! ? pic.twitter.com/qYOhC1u6lS

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 1, 2026

Dansby Swanson homers to left in the second.

hot (adjective): having a relatively high temperature.

see also: dansby swanson pic.twitter.com/nHb0ZSqTAp

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 1, 2026

Michael Conforto was intentionally walked to get to Miguel Amaya. Amaya made the Padres pay.

we believe these are the runs you ordered! pic.twitter.com/SV2aNyusL3

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 1, 2026

Another home run for Swanson gives him back-to-back days with multi-homerun games.

BACK-TO-BACK MULTI-HOME RUN GAMES FOR DANSBY SWANSON. pic.twitter.com/a4QYcbwjPU

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 1, 2026

Padres put up a pair

Sung-Mun Song, with a double earlier in the game, gets the Padres on the board with his first major league home run.

송상문 선수의 메이저리그 첫 홈런! pic.twitter.com/fFqQPjgOpr

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) July 1, 2026

A ground-rule double by Ty France will plate Manny Machado.

The ball gets past Pete Crow-Armstrong (PCA) in center field, and Ty France has an RBI double (?) because of the Ivy interfering with play#padres #forthefaithful pic.twitter.com/LLaXsbK5xi

— Padres Highlights (@FriarHighlights) July 1, 2026

Buehler’s worst start as a Friar

Wednesday was Walker Buehler’s worst start as a Padre. The combination of a great-hitting Cubs team, wind blowing out on a hot day, and the inability to find the zone early was a recipe for disaster for Buehler. In four innings, Buehler allowed nine earned runs on seven hits. He’d walk four Cubs while striking out six. The right-hander surrendered three home runs, one to Suzuki and two to Swanson. Buehler was able to get 11 whiffs during his 85-pitch outing.

Hart comes in for two

Kyle Hart entered the game to try and give some much-needed quick innings for the club before the begin 10 games in 10 days. In the fifth, Hart gave up a pair of home runs, one to Michael Conforto and one to Pete Crow-Armstrong.

are you guys having fun?

because we’re having fun. pic.twitter.com/vlKkFC60we

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 1, 2026

Conforto would take Hart out of the yard again, this one to make it a 15-2 ballgame.

chat, we’re running out of words. pic.twitter.com/r8gba1eQSG

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 1, 2026

Padres make it 15-3

San Diego sent out some pinch-hitters for the top of the eighth. Samad Taylor tripled, and Miguel Andujar followed with a single to make it a 12-run game.

Position player pitching

Rodolfo Durán, the catcher,r came in to pitch in the seventh and eighth innings. Durán grabbed a 1-2-3 seventh inning in his second appearance of the year.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Cubs poured it on. Dansby Swanson homered for his third of the game, this one for a grand slam. Michael Busch also homered, for the Cubs’ eighth home run of the day, and their eighth run of the inning.

GRAND SLAM
THIRD HOMER OF THE GAME

DANSBY SWANSON IS ??? pic.twitter.com/z88J0AC6vQ

— MLB (@MLB) July 1, 2026

Recap

Colin Rea received his sixth win of the year against the team that drafted him in 2011.

Walker Buehler was credited with the loss after allowing nine earned runs.

San Diego drops to 43-42, and stands just one game above .500. The Cubs boost their record to 49-38 after completing the three-game sweep of the Padres.

The eight home runs allowed by the Padres on Wednesday mark the most given up in a single game in the history of the franchise.

The Cubs’ eight home runs on the day tie their most in a single game in franchise history.

Four games at Dodger Stadium

After Wednesday’s game, the Padres will head to Los Angeles to take on the Dodgers for a four-game set starting on Thursday. The team has not announced a starter yet, but Randy Vásquez is lined up to have a role in the game. Roki Sasaki is the probable starting pitcher for the Dodgers. First pitch on Thursday is scheduled for 7:10 PM PT.

Angel Flores

Angel grew up a San Diego sports fan, following the Padres, SDSU athletics, San Diego FC, as well as the Chargers. He is currently a third year community college student, and will transfer to SDSU to pursue a career in Journalism.