CHICAGO — (AP) — Seiya Suzuki and Carson Kelly hit back-to-back homers, helping the Chicago Cubs beat the San Diego Padres 3-1 on Tuesday in Game 1 of their NL Wild Card Series.
Chicago also got a perfect performance from its bullpen in the franchise's first playoff win since the 2017 National League Championship Series. The Cubs were swept by Miami in the wild-card round in 2020 during their last postseason appearance.
Game 2 of the best-of-three series is back at Wrigley Field on Wednesday afternoon.
“All in all, a really good day for us,” Kelly said. “Having a chance to clinch tomorrow and move to the next round is all you can ask for.”
Suzuki opened the fifth inning with a 424-foot drive to left-center off Nick Pivetta, tying it at 1 and sending a charge through a towel-waving crowd of 39,114 on a picturesque day. Pivetta had retired 11 in a row before Suzuki extended his homer streak to five games going back to the regular season.
Kelly followed with a towering shot that drifted just over the wall in left-center. The catcher and Chicago native held his right arm in the air as he rounded first base.
It was the MLB postseason debut for both Suzuki and Kelly, who combined for the franchise's first set of back-to-back homers in the playoffs since Miguel Montero and Dexter Fowler went deep on Oct. 15, 2016, against the Dodgers.
“Simply put, it was fantastic,” Suzuki said through a translator. “You just felt the passion of the fans, them cheering us on. Rounding the bases, I felt some nerves, obviously, but great feeling overall.”
Pivetta struck out nine in five solid innings, but San Diego's lineup was shut down by Matthew Boyd and four relievers.
Jackson Merrill and Xander Bogaerts produced an early lead for the Padres with back-to-back doubles in the second. Bogaerts advanced to third on center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong's throwing error, but he was stranded there when Boyd retired Ryan O'Hearn (grounder to shortstop), Gavin Sheets (popup to third) and Jake Cronenworth (grounder to shortstop).
San Diego put runners on the corners with one out in the fourth, but Chicago shortstop Dansby Swanson made a nice running catch to help Boyd escape again.
“Everybody knows how big those situations are," Padres slugger Fernando Tatis Jr. said. "We've just got to do better in those situations.”
San Diego manager Mike Shildt said Swanson's over-the-shoulder grab on O'Hearn's soft liner was a big moment.
“Right off the bat, I thought it was going to fall in there, but Dansby got a nice drop step, went out and made what ended up being probably the play of the game,” Shildt said.
Boyd exited after Freddy Fermin's one-out single in the fifth. As shadows started to creep across home plate, Daniel Palencia retired each of his five batters for the win, including strikeouts of Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill.
Drew Pomeranz and Andrew Kittredge each got three outs before Brad Keller handled the ninth for the save.
“Just a brilliant job,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said of his bullpen. “Everybody just made — executed pitches, made pitches. Can’t say enough about what they did today.”
Dylan Cease takes the mound for San Diego on Wednesday. Kittredge will start Game 2 for Chicago as an opener, likely followed by Shota Imanaga.
Cease went 8-12 with a 4.55 ERA in 32 starts this season. The 29-year-old right-hander was drafted by the Cubs in 2014, but was traded to the White Sox in July 2017.
“I definitely have no hard feelings towards them, but yeah, it feels like a lifetime ago,” Cease said.
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