Close Menu
Sports Review News
  • Home
  • Football
  • Baseball
  • Basketball
  • Hocky
  • Soccer
  • Boxing
  • Golf
  • Motorsport
  • Tennis

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest creative sports news and updates directly to your inbox.

Trending

Warriors’ Steve Kerr ‘very comfortable’ entering year on expiring deal, reassessing contract at end of season

October 1, 2025

Rafael ‘Divino’ Espinoza Defends WBO Featherweight Title Against Arnold Khegai on November 15 in San Luis Potosi, Mexico

October 1, 2025

Chelsea 1 Benfica 0: Mourinho loses on Stamford Bridge return as Blues scrape three points with calamitous own-goal

October 1, 2025
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Sports Review News
SUBSCRIBE
  • Home
  • Football
  • Baseball
  • Basketball
  • Hocky
  • Soccer
  • Boxing
  • Golf
  • Motorsport
  • Tennis
Sports Review News
Home»Baseball»MLB playoffs 2025: Cubs’ bold pitching decision pays off in Game 1 triumph over Padres: ‘This was the save to me’
Baseball

MLB playoffs 2025: Cubs’ bold pitching decision pays off in Game 1 triumph over Padres: ‘This was the save to me’

News RoomBy News RoomOctober 1, 2025No Comments5 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email Telegram Copy Link
MLB playoffs 2025: Cubs’ bold pitching decision pays off in Game 1 triumph over Padres: ‘This was the save to me’

CHICAGO — The postseason often comes down to individual moments making the difference between victory and defeat. And in the shorter format of the wild-card round, those individual moments loom even larger.

For the Chicago Cubs, those moments came in the fifth inning of their 3-1 victory over the San Diego Padres on Tuesday in Game 1. When they needed resolve, they found it at the perfect time.

“That’s kind of our brand of baseball,” Cubs starting pitcher Matthew Boyd said afterward.

For the Cubs, who notched their first playoff victory since 2017, you could feel their desire to win Game 1 and put pressure on San Diego in the series. It started with manager Craig Counsell. Games can get away from a team quickly in the postseason, but the Cubs manager, who is no stranger to managing in October, wasn’t going to let Game 1 get away from his club after they trailed 1-0 early.

Despite Boyd giving up just one run over 4 1/3 innings, after allowing a single to catcher Freddy Fermín and with Fernando Tatís Jr. and the top of the Padres’ lineup due up, Counsell turned to young closer Daniel Palencia to be the stopper.

Palencia, who came off the injured list from a right shoulder injury days before the postseason began, had appeared in just one game before the seventh inning since June. But the Cubs’ closer was unfazed by the uncharted waters, getting back-to-back lineouts from Tatis and Luis Arraez to end the frame.

He returned in the sixth inning for another 1-2-3 inning, retiring Manny Machado, Jackson Merrill and Xander Bogaerts. Machado and Merrill both struck out, with Merrill waving at a 101 mph fastball to go down on three pitches. Bogaerts lined out to end the clean frame.

“We prepared for this,” Palencia said. “I’ve been preparing my body and my mind since the offseason. This is the moment I want to be [in]. My job is making outs and that’s it.”

Counsell has historically gone away from the idea of roles when it comes to his bullpen — instead viewing his relievers as out-getters. So bringing his closer into the game in the fifth inning wasn’t something that was foreign in his mind.

“That’s the outing of the game that was critical,” Counsell said of the decision to go to Palencia. “You need outs from your starters in these games. You can’t do that every day. But him throwing up five outs in five hitters and going through the top of their lineup, the game made sense after that to me, know what I mean? There was a real path right there.

“He was closing [this season]. This was the save to me. The way that outing happened and what was the result is like closing.”

The Cubs’ pitching did its job during Game 1, so after Palencia neutralized the Padres’ threat in top of the fifth, it was up to the Cubs’ offense to make the most of their moment in the bottom half.

Right fielder Seiya Suzuki had a second half to forget in 2025, and when the month of September began, you wondered if Suzuki would be able to get things right ahead of the postseason. But over the past week, the Cubs’ right fielder found his power stroke, hitting homers in three consecutive games to end the season.

Suzuki carried that surge into Game 1, hitting a no-doubter into the left-field bleachers in the bottom of the fifth, tying the game 1-1 and extending his home-run streak to four games.

“I can’t really explain it,” Suzuki said of his home-run barrage. “I think with the past week, coming into this game, I feel like there’s been a playoff switch that’s been turned on. … I think that homer was just the result of all my teammates being there and supporting me, all the fans. I think everybody was involved in that.”

It wasn’t just Suzuki and Palencia who got in on the Cubs’ fifth-inning heroics. Catcher Carson Kelly followed Suzuki’s homer with a solo shot of his own, sending Wrigley Field into a deafening frenzy and giving Chicago a 2-1 lead. It was the first set of back-to-back homers the Cubs had hit in the postseason since Miguel Montero and Dexter Fowler did it in Game 1 of the 2016 NLCS against the Dodgers. Kelly’s blast proved to be the game-winning hit, though they added an insurance run in the eighth inning.

“That’s who we are,” Boyd said of the Cubs’ mentality this season. “We’re not dependent on one guy, and I believe no moment is too big for anybody in our lineup, anybody in our bullpen, in our rotation. It’s like you don’t know who’s going to be the guy tomorrow or today, but it’s awesome when it happens. No surprise that it was Seiya and Carson today doing that thing at the plate. It was pretty awesome.”

The Cubs are now one step closer and one victory away from advancing to the NLDS and facing their division rival Milwaukee Brewers. As for the Padres, they now face elimination in Game 2 and will attempt to stave off a disappointing finish for the second consecutive season.

Read the full article here

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Telegram Reddit Email
Previous ArticleSeth Curry reportedly reaches 1-year deal with the Warriors, will team up with brother Stephen in San Francisco
Next Article Galatasaray 1 Liverpool 0: Slot decision backfires as much-changed Reds lose twice in week as Alisson suffers injury

Related Posts

Yankees' bullpen coughs up lead, spoil Max Fried's gem in Game 1 loss to Red Sox

October 1, 2025

Jose Siri, Richard Lovelady, Kevin Herget elect free agency after being DFA’d by Mets

September 30, 2025

Lucas Giolito doesn’t appear to have structural damage in elbow but unlikely to pitch in postseason

September 30, 2025

Tigers at Guardians Wild Card Game 2 prediction: Odds, expert picks, pitching matchup, trends, and stats

September 30, 2025

Yankees Wild Card Notes: Will Warren’s role, Game 1 lineup decisions

September 30, 2025

Stacked Dodgers Open Playoffs Without Kershaw in Rotation

September 30, 2025
Add A Comment
Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

Demo
Stay In Touch
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Vimeo
Don't Miss

Warriors’ Steve Kerr ‘very comfortable’ entering year on expiring deal, reassessing contract at end of season

By News RoomOctober 1, 2025

This golden era of Golden State Warriors basketball is in its golden years. The franchise’s…

Rafael ‘Divino’ Espinoza Defends WBO Featherweight Title Against Arnold Khegai on November 15 in San Luis Potosi, Mexico

October 1, 2025

Chelsea 1 Benfica 0: Mourinho loses on Stamford Bridge return as Blues scrape three points with calamitous own-goal

October 1, 2025

Yankees' bullpen coughs up lead, spoil Max Fried's gem in Game 1 loss to Red Sox

October 1, 2025

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest creative sports news and updates directly to your inbox.

Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest
  • Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • For Advertisers
  • Contact
© 2025 Prices.com LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.