Padres’ desperate late-inning rally falls short in season-ending Wild Card loss

Less than 24 hours after staving off elimination, the San Diego Padres were once again in a win-or-go-home scenario. 

San Diego, however, failed to capitalize against Cubs starter Jameson Taillon. The Padres went down 1-2-3 in the first inning against the Cubs right-hander. San Diego entrusted the ball to veteran right-hander (and former Cub) Yu Darvish, who in two prior win-or-go home starts with San Diego posted a 2.84 ERA.

Darvish had an eventful but scoreless first inning, generating a double play for two outs before a Nico Hoerner single put a second runner on. On a 94.2 mph fastball from Darvish, Hoerner took off for second, but Freddy Fermin gunned him down. While Hoerner was initially called safe, the call was overturned upon replay review. 

Ryan O’Hearn reached with two outs in the second inning on a seeing-eye single to right field, but would be stranded. The failure to move O’Hearn with two outs was costly, as the Cubs used a single, double, and hit-by-pitch to load the bases against Darvish to open the seventh. Pete Crow-Armstrong, who came into the game 0-for-the series, lined a single to center field in front of a charging Jackson Merrill to give the Cubs a 1-0 lead. The decision for Darvish to start would become one of questioning, as Mike Shildt turned to the bullpen with no outs in the second inning and the bases loaded.

Former Cub Jeremiah Estrada came on with the bases loaded, and issued a walk to Dansby Swanson to extend the Cub lead to 2-0. Estrada managed to strike out Matt Shaw for the first out, and facing Michael Busch, a seven-pitch at-bat led to an inning ending 3-6-1 double play with Estrada covering the first base bag. 

Jameson Taillon cruised through the third and fourth innings, allowing only a line drive double to Jackson Merrill in the fourth while retiring six of seven batters in those two frames. Estrada worked around a Kyle Tucker single in the third to toss two scoreless innings against his former club. Mike Shildt turned to Michael King for the fourth inning, and King struck out three of four batters faced, throwing only 19 pitches.

With their ace in the game, San Diego was able to get runners on against the Cub bullpen, with Craig Counsell turning to left-hander Caleb Thielbar after four innings from Taillon. Gavin Sheets singled against Thielbar, and Freddy Fermin reached on a double off Daniel Palencia, bringing the go-ahead run to the plate in Fernando Tatis Jr. Tatis swung at an elevated fastball from Palencia but got jammed, flying out to Seiya Suzuki to end the threat. 

San Diego opted to change pitchers, turning to Wandy Peralta for the fifth. Peralta, scheduled to face two left-handed hitters and a switch-hitter, worked around two hits to toss a scoreless fifth. The chess match continued between the two teams, with Palencia retiring the heart of the Padres lineup thanks in part to a double play turned by Dansby Swanson on a missile off the bat of Jackson Merrill.

Robert Suarez was called on for the sixth, only his second time all season opening an inning that was not the ninth. Suarez allowed two one-out singles to Carson Kelly and Pete Crow-Armstrong, but retired the bottom of the Cub order to keep the game at two. Xander Bogaerts led off the seventh inning against Palencia with a single, and Counsell turned to another former Padre in Drew Pomeranz for the Padres’ left-handed trifecta. Bogaerts swiped second base, but Pomeranz retired O’Hearn and pinch-hitting Jose Iglesias to bring up Jake Cronenworth with two outs. Cronenworth turned on a middle-middle Pomeranz heater, but got under it, flying out to center field to end the threat.

That one missed opportunity stung, and the stinging got worse as Michael Busch launched a towering 400-foot homer off Suarez. Suarez surrendered a double to Ian Happ to end his outing. Adrian Morejon entered for the third time in three days, and was able to retire the ensuing three batters, including one on a 50-50 forceout at the plate. Morejon was undoubtedly the series MVP for San Diego, throwing 4.1 innings of scoreless relief and pitching three days in a row for only the second time in his career. 

Freddy Fermin led off the eighth with a leadoff single against Brad Keller, but the Padres’ top three batters reverted to Game 1 form, as Tatis, Arraez, and Machado went down in order. David Morgan made his playoff debut with a scoreless eighth, sending the Padres to the ninth with three outs between playing on and the end of their season. 

Jackson Merrill opened the ninth with the Padres’ first salvo of the game, homering to right center on a changeup from Brad Keller.

Jackson Merrill leads off the 9th inning with a homer 👀#Postseason pic.twitter.com/K4dKHcOKoO

— MLB (@MLB) October 2, 2025

Two runs to go. Xander Bogaerts worked a full count against Keller, but was called out on strikes on a pitch that was objectively below the zone. Ryan O’Hearn, acquired for big moments like this one, stepped up to the plate, but was hit by a Keller fastball at 96.1 mph. Bryce Johnson stepped up to the plate, but was hit by a bouncing cambio from Keller, prompting the Cubs to call upon Andrew Kittredge for the third time this series.

Jake Cronenworth stepped up to the plate, and on the fourth pitch grounded to third base. The throw from Matt Shaw was a bang-bang play, and Cronenworth was called out. San Diego challenged, but the call was upheld. Two down, and Freddy Fermin stepped up to the dish. Fermin crushed the ball 101.1 mph in the air to center field, but he was under the ball, and Pete Crow-Armstrong caught the ball for the final out of the Padres’ season.

A season of ups-and-downs with a jolt of energy down the stretch came to a close, and will live on in a tale of what-if’s.

Diego Garcia

A born and raised San Diegan, Diego Garcia is a lifetime Padres fan and self-proclaimed baseball nerd. Diego wrote about baseball on his own site between 2021-22 before joining the East Village Times team in 2024. He also posts baseball content on his YouTube channel “Stat Nerd Baseball”, creating content around trades, hypotheticals, player analyses, the San Diego Padres, and MLB as a whole.

A 2024 graduate of San Diego State, Diego aims to grow as a writer and content creator in the baseball community.