Cubs manager Craig Counsell deservedly got credit for some smart moves paying off in the Game 1 victory over San Diego.

His batting average slipped a bit with Wednesday’s 3-0 loss in Game 2. Using an opener in the first inning didn’t work out, he stuck with Shota Imanaga two batters too long, and isn’t it time to move the scorching-hot Seiya Suzuki higher in the batting order?

But the bottom line is this: You can’t win if you don’t score and the Cubs’ offense was quiet with only 4 hits. Former Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish will take the mound for San Diego in the decisive Game 3 on Thursday. Colin Rea pitched in relief Wednesday, which means Jameson Taillon will get the ball for Game 3.

Suzuki, batting fifth in the order behind Kyle Tucker, saw his home run streak end at five straight games, but he did collect the Cubs’ only extra-base hit of the day, a two-out double in the fourth.

The Cubs’ best scoring chance was probably in the eighth inning, when Nico Hoerner sent a line drive into the right-field corner with Michael Busch on first, but Fernando Tatis Jr. ran over, extended his glove and made a nice catch.

The key blow for the Padres was a 2-run home run by Manny Machado with two outs in the fifth inning. Imanaga finished four innings, but the decision to let him face the right-handed Machado didn’t pan out. Imanaga’s first pitch was a splitter that didn’t drop and the San Diego slugger sent it 404 feet over the left-field wall.

In the previous half-inning, Machado appeared to injure his knee when he chased an Ian Happ foul ball toward the Cubs dugout, slid and collided with the railing. He stayed on the ground for about a minute before standing up and limping back toward third base.

The Padres started a familiar face in this game, but this seemed like a different version of Dylan Cease than when he pitched on the South Side. During his final season with the White Sox in 2023, Cease averaged 95.6 mph with his four-seam fastball, according to Statcast.

In this game, Cease went past 99 mph nine times, peaking at 99.7. Maybe the plan was a pitching version of the short sprint, because Cease left after only 3⅔ innings and 69 pitches. He allowed no runs, three hits, one walk and struck out five.

Anyway, Cease was soft-tossing compared with reliever Mason Miller in the seventh and eighth innings. Miller hit 104.5 mph, according to Statcast, on a called strike three to Carson Kelly, and threw 11 pitches above 102 mph.

The Cubs’ decision to use reliever Andrew Kittredge as an opener didn’t pay off. The Padres started with a pair of sharp singles by Tatis and Luis Arraez. Kittredge struck out Machado, but the base runners pulled off a double steal, allowing Tatis to score on Jackson Merrill’s sacrifice fly.

Kittredge had gone scoreless in 12 of his previous 13 outings, but did throw 14 pitches in Game 1.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20251001/chicago-cubs/cubs-offense-goes-quiet-padres-force-game-3/