CHICAGO (AP) — Yu Darvish made an early exit against his former team, and San Diego’s big bats were a bust. It all added up to the Padres getting knocked out of the playoffs yet again, this time courtesy of the Chicago Cubs.
“It just sucks to be doing this, unfortunately,” slugger Manny Machado said. “This team, we left it out there all year. It was a hell of a journey. I wouldn’t change anything in the world for it, (except) obviously a championship.”
San Diego won 90 games and made the playoffs for the fourth time in six seasons, only to in the deciding Game 3 of their Wild Card Series with a 3-1 loss at raucous Wrigley Field on Thursday. The Padres have not made it past the National League Championship Series during this recent run. Last season, they swept their Wild Card Series against Atlanta, only to get knocked out by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Division Series.
San Diego captured pennants in 1984 and 1998. But the pursuit of the franchise’s first World Series championship continues.
“We’ve got a really good thing,” outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. said. “We can look ahead of us. But right now, as I just mentioned, it’s just missed opportunities.”
Darvish couldn’t make it out of the second inning, and San Diego couldn’t come up with enough big hits. Instead of heading to Milwaukee to begin a Division Series against the team that posted the best record in baseball this season, the Padres simply headed home after scoring just five runs in three games.
“It’s obviously very disappointing,” Darvish said through an interpreter. “As we got into the game, I was full go from the first pitch. Things just didn’t turn our way. It’s a sad thing, too, that this group will not be all together next season.”
A five-time All-Star, Darvish missed the first three months of the season because of inflammation in his right elbow. The Japanese right-hander posted a 5.38 ERA in 15 regular-season outings. And his 14th career postseason start turned out to be his shortest.
The 39-year-old Darvish got lifted after the first four Cubs batters in the second inning reached safely. He gave up a single to Kyle Tucker and a double to Seiya Suzuki before hitting Carson Kelly with a pitch to load the bases.
Pete Crow-Armstrong then knocked Darvish out of the game with an RBI single — the first of his three hits. Jeremiah Estrada came in and walked Dansby Swanson to force in another run, making it 2-0. Estrada then struck out Matt Shaw and got Michael Busch to ground into a double play.
San Diego’s deep, hard-throwing bullpen mostly did its part from there, with six relievers combining to hold Chicago to one run. All-Star closer Robert Suarez gave up a homer to Busch leading off the seventh.
But the Padres couldn’t come through at the plate.
The top three hitters in the order were a combined 0 for 11, with Tatis and Luis Arraez each going 0 for 4 and Machado finishing 0 for 3 with a walk.
Tatis struck out three times. He also hit a fly to right in the fifth that stranded runners at second and third. Machado, who homered in Wednesday’s win, left a runner on third with a grounder to shortstop for the final out in the eighth.
San Diego had the potential tying runs on in the ninth after Jackson Merrill led off with a homer and Chicago reliever Brad Keller hit Ryan O’Hearn and Bryce Johnson with pitches. But just when it appeared the Padres might pull this one out, they came up short.
Andrew Kittredge retired Jake Cronenworth on a slow bouncer to third and Freddy Fermin on a fly to center, ending San Diego’s season.
“We had a lot of fun,” shortstop Xander Bogaerts said. “We competed with each other. We had guys that got injuries, a lot of guys stepped up. We traded for some really great people at the deadline. … It was fun until today.”
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