Ty France plates four, Padres win series opener against the Cubs
Credit: The Sporting Tribune
It was Randy Vasquez’ bump day for game one against the Cubs, marking the start of a Chicago-themed homestand.
San Diego Padres fans have enjoyed consistency from Randy Vasquez thus far in the season, something the rotation has sorely needed. He got some early help in the first with a dazzling grab from Ramon Laureano. Facing one of the more talented hitting lineups in the league, the Friars knew that early run support would be huge.
It was Jackson Merrill who got the scoring started, slotting a single to right that plated Laureano. A few solid at-bats put Ty France in a position to do some damage, and the Aztec For Life cashed in with a 2-RBI ground-rule double.
Seiya Suzuki put the Cubs on the board with a solo shot in the second, but the real damage came in the next frame. Much like their last game in Mexico City, Padres pitching allowed a two-out rally to turn into a lead change. A walk and two singles would set up catcher Moises Ballesteros for a grand slam.
With plenty of baseball left to be played, the Pads got to work, sparked by a Manny Machado double. He would come around to score, and ultimately accounted for three runs on three hits before exiting the game with calf tightness.
Nick Castellanos came up with a critical two-out, two-strike knock in the bottom of the fifth to put San Diego back on top, and the insurance would keep coming.
Return to sender. pic.twitter.com/NYwGQcVU2p
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) April 28, 2026
The top of the order has been trending upward, but has yet to all produce in the same game up until tonight. The first five put together 10 hits, but it was the bottom of the order coming through to drive them home.
France would put the cherry on a fantastic night at Petco with a two-run triple in the seventh. With four RBI’s on the night, he also put in a solid effort at the hot corner after Manny’s exit.
Have a night, Ty! pic.twitter.com/GqK5ldQQ6O
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) April 28, 2026
Adrian Morejon and Jason Adam combined for a scoreless 6th, 7th, & 8th inning, with Adam stranding one at third. He is now 6/6 in preventing inherited runners from scoring.
Combining a clean 8th with a mashed insurance dinger off the bat of Gavin Sheets, the sold-out crowd at Petco braced for the reaper.
Mason Miller, looking to extend his franchise-record scoreless streak, got off to a bizarre and unlucky start. Matt Shaw chopped one down the third base line, France and the umpires waited to see if it would roll foul. The ball came to a halt in foul territory, was picked up by France, but was called a fair ball.
Home plate umpire Dan Merzel called the ball fair, giving Matt Shaw a single despite it appearing clearly foul pic.twitter.com/yck1JiRPnx
— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 28, 2026
Craig Stammen got out and implored the third base umpire to weigh in on the wrong call, but Shaw was awarded first base. This led to back-to-back singles, bringing the tying run to the plate.
Ruben Niebla came out to speak to Miller for the first time all season, presumably to remind him that wins are the priority, and the potential end of the streak means it’ll be time to start a new one.
A fielder’s choice and a passed ball resulted in two runs scoring, but Miller would finish the job, striking out Alex Bregman to end the game. Interestingly, that’s his first strikeout in his last three appearances; hitters do seem to be making more contact against him lately.
Fernando Tatis Jr. started at second tonight, given a Cronenworth rest day, and continued his trend of hitting barrels with no launch. He connected on a 113 mph scorcher up the middle, and has seemed a little less inside-out in his approach. He flirted with his first home run of the season, but came just shy of the center field track.
Got Milk? pic.twitter.com/QgEKrA6prp
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) April 28, 2026
The Padres remain 0.5 games back of the NL West at 19-9, and have Walker Buehler taking the mound against Edward Cabrera in game two. The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Miami Marlins and are 20-9 on the season.
After this series, it’ll be the South Siders turn at Petco, bringing Will Venable back to his old stomping grounds.
Nate Tubbs is a recent graduate of Journalism at San Diego State University. In his time at SDSU, he wrote and photographed several different sports for Aztec Link, the school’s NIL collective. He also co-hosted a weekly podcast featuring Aztec athletes, sharing their stories and goals for the season. Tubbs is passionate about photography, storytelling, and most of all, San Diego sports.