Overview

• Seiya Suzuki tied it with a 424-foot leadoff homer in the fifth for his fifth straight game with a home run, and Carson Kelly followed with the go-ahead shot.
• Starter Matthew Boyd allowed one run over 4 1/3 innings before Chicago’s bullpen retired the final 14 Padres across 4 2/3 scoreless frames.
• Daniel Palencia, Drew Pomeranz, Andrew Kittredge and Brad Keller combined to close it out, with Keller striking out Xander Bogaerts to end the game.
• Padres right-hander Nick Pivetta struck out nine in five innings but yielded the two homers, and San Diego stranded opportunities after early doubles by Jackson Merrill and Bogaerts.
• Nico Hoerner added an insurance sacrifice fly in the eighth as Chicago claimed its first postseason win since 2017 and a 1-0 series lead, with Game 2 set for Wednesday and Dylan Cease starting for San Diego; the Cubs plan to open with Andrew Kittredge.