Seiya Suzuki said he’s been watching and studying Cubs playoff games of the past on YouTube.

Finally given the chance to make his own postseason memories, Suzuki didn’t miss. His sixth home run in the past five days ignited a silent Cubs offense, setting the stage for a 3-1 victory over San Diego on Tuesday at Wrigley Field.

With a 1-0 lead in the National League wild card series, the Cubs can advance by winning Wednesday’s Game 2. Former White Sox ace and Cubs draft pick Dylan Cease is set to take the mound for the Padres.

If someone watching this game took a poorly-timed snack break, they might have missed the entire Cubs offensive outburst. The home team couldn’t do much of anything against Padres starter Nick Pivetta for four innings, until Suzuki and catcher Carson Kelly sent a pair of Pivetta four-seams into the left-field bleachers.

It was the Cubs’ first set of playoff back-to-back homers since Miguel Montero and Dexter Fowler did it in the 2016 NLCS. According to MLB, Suzuki is the first player in history to finish the regular season with home runs in four straight games, then homer again in the playoff opener.

The Cubs’ Seiya Suzuki, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Ian Happ celebrate after Game 1 of the National League wild card series against the San Diego Padres on Tuesday at Wrigley Field. AP

“I can’t really explain it,” Suzuki said of his home run binge, through translator Edwin Stanberry. “I think with the past week coming into this game, I feel like there’s been a playoff switch that’s been turned on.”

During the first four innings, Pivetta was going heavier than usual with his fastball usage. The Cubs’ lone hit was a first-inning single by Nico Hoerner and the sole scoring threat was Michael Busch hitting a fly ball to the warning track.

“(Pivetta’s) a guy where you know what’s going to happen,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “He’s going to put the fastball at the top of the strike zone, and when he clips the top of the strike zone consistently, which he did an excellent job of, it’s difficult. That’s a difficult pitch to hit. That’s why he’s had so much success.”

With Suzuki, Pivetta hit the inside corner, but the pitch was waist-high. The result was a screaming line drive, with a 112.2 exit velocity, for the first home run of the MLB postseason.

Kelly stepped up next and somehow managed to hit one of the Pivetta specials, a fastball at the top, inside corner of the zone, into the third row of the bleachers. Even Pivetta was perplexed at that one.

“To me, that’s a head-scratcher,” Pivetta said. “It’s a hats off to him (Kelly) kind of situation. He took a really interesting swing on the fastball before that, on the down and away. So I just figured attack him again with the fastball and he was able to put a good swing on it.”

In the span of about two minutes, the Cubs went from completely shut down to a 2-1 lead. They tacked on an insurance run in the eighth when Dansby Swanson led off with a single and was bunted to second. After the Padres intentionally walked Busch, and the runners advanced on a wild pitch, Hoerner brought Swanson home with a sacrifice fly.

The Cubs’ Carson Kelly reacts after hitting a home run during the fifth inning of Game 1 of a National League wild card baseball game against the San Diego Padres Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Huh) AP

“In the postseason, hits just change the stadium,” Counsell said. “It changes the energy of the stadium completely. So it’s just about that, and I’m really happy for Seiya. I know he was very, very excited to take part in this.”

Meanwhile, the Cubs bullpen was perfect, as Daniel Palencia, Drew Pomeranz, Andrew Kittredge and Brad Keller retired all 14 San Diego hitters they faced.

The Padres got on the board in the second inning on consecutive doubles by Jackson Merrill and Xander Bogaerts, but Cubs starter Matthew Boyd did a great job of escaping some jams.

After his double, Bogaerts advanced to third with nobody out on a throwing error. But he never scored, as Boyd coaxed a ground out, pop up and another grounder.

The Padres put runners on first and third with one out in the fourth inning on a walk, sacrifice bunt and infield single. This time Swanson saved a run with a running, over-the-shoulder catch of Ryan O’Hearn’s soft liner. Then Gavin Sheets flied to center to end the inning.

“It’s our brand of baseball, right?” Boyd said. “That’s who we are. We’re not dependent on one guy. I believe no moment is too big for anybody in our lineup, anybody in our bullpen, in our rotation.”

Kittredge was announced as the Cubs starter for Game 2, likely as an opener for Shota Imanaga.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20250930/chicago-cubs/bullpen-shines-as-cubs-take-game-1-from-padres/