When the Chicago Cubs started the 2026 season 27-12, a stretch that included two 10-game winning streaks, many of us thought, “Hey, maybe this year can be something special.”
GOOD. You know what happened after that. A 10-game losing streak. Injuries. Guys don’t produce. The bullpen imploded several times. After going 27-12, they were just 62-61 – a worse game than the Marlins over that span. Sheesh.
And then, a Wild Card Series in which the Cubs offense all but disappeared. That’s the story of Game 2, a 4-1 loss to the Padres that eliminated the Cubs from the 2026 playoffs, almost as if they weren’t even there to begin with.
I could end this recap here, because what more can I say, really?
Still, you come here for game recaps and since this was the Cubs’ final game of 2026, let’s look at what happened.
One pitch late in the first inning, the Cubs were already ahead of the first game because, well, Fernando Tatis Jr. didn’t hit Kevin Gausman’s first pitch out of the yard. So, any progress?
This progression lasted one round. In the second, Ty France doubled and moved to third on a single by Jackson Merrill. Xander Bogaerts singled in France, with Merrill stopping at third, where he scored on a sacrifice fly from Ethan Salas. Additionally, Salas, who doesn’t turn 21 until next June, became the youngest catcher to play in an MLB playoff game, breaking the record set by Atlanta catcher Bob Didier in 1969.
The 2-0 score was where the game remained until early in the fourth period, when the Cubs finally got on the board for the first time in this series.
Seiya Suzuki hit a one-out single and Ian Happ walked.
Nico Hoerner’s single up the middle scored Suzuki to make it 2-1 (VIDEO).
So, down by just one run in the fourth inning, with two runners still on base and just one out? Maybe the Cubs offense could get going here?
That didn’t happen, although after Matt Shaw grounded out, Carson Kelly was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Dansby Swanson flew out to center to end the inning.
About this one sequence, from BCB’s JohnW53:
The Cubs didn’t score through the first 12.1 innings of this series.
It’s the longest they’ve gone without scoring since the start of a postseason run. They were shut out in the first game of the previous three series.
In the 1918 World Series against the Red Sox and the 2015 Division Series against the Cardinals, they scored with one out in the second inning of Game 2.
In the 2016 World Series, they scored with one out in the first inning of Game 2.
The one-point deficit didn’t last long. Gausman struck out Merrill to start the fourth, but Bogaerts then doubled. Craig Counsell opted to call on Daniel Palencia, who struck out Salas.
Then the Padres sent Gavin Sheets to bat for Austin Hays. Sheets entered this game with career numbers of .297/.348/.484 with three home runs in 69 plate appearances against the Cubs during the regular season. You could have seen this coming from San Diego to Chicago (VIDEO).
Palencia then hit Jake Cronenworth with a pitch, and the San Diego crowd booed as if it had been intentional; clearly, that wasn’t the case – Palencia was just struggling to get a handle on command.
The score could have been worse without this nice grab from Pete Crow-Armstrong against Tatis to end the round (VIDEO).
So at least we had a good defensive memory of PCA from this series, even if his offense was quiet – 0 for 7 with four strikeouts in the series.
This fourth inning was basically this. Palencia, David Peterson and Ryan Zeferjahn held the Padres scoreless for the remainder of the game, four combined shutout innings with four strikeouts. Meanwhile, the Cubs were down to three baserunners after the fourth. Michael Busch walked with two outs in the fifth. Tyrone Taylor, batting for Busch, singled with one out in the eighth, but was erased when Suzuki threw a double play. Nico Hoerner doubled with one out in the ninth but found himself stranded. The Cubs went 1 for 8 with RISP in this game. If they had struck in these situations, would the outcome have been different? I think not, probably.
Those two games in San Diego were a hallmark of this team, as were the offensive outbursts that allowed the 2026 Cubs to lead MLB in scoring. It was a true feast-or-famine season — long stretches where the offense couldn’t do anything wrong, and others where hitters just didn’t show up at all.
Here is PCA on the end of season defeat (VIDEO).
Here are some post-game remarks from Alex Bregman (VIDEO).
Bregman, whose previous postseason performances were one of the reasons the Cubs signed him, went 0 for 8 in this series with four strikeouts.
Finally, here are Craig Counsell’s post-game remarks (VIDEO).
Would the outcome of this series have been different if the Cubs had won two more regular season games and had the home field? Probably not; It’s clear watching these two games that the Padres were on a roll, which began in the final three weeks of the regular season and continued into this series. Additionally, it is very likely that the weather was a major factor. It rained all day and evening in Chicago on Wednesday and it’s still raining here early Thursday morning, which could have thrown this series’ schedule into chaos. Ultimately, this Cubs team just wasn’t good enough to move on, and you know the reasons why, mainly the pitching – the injuries and ineffectiveness of the starters and relievers. The offense was great – until it wasn’t.
More on John’s offense:
In the two games of this series, the Cubs were 8 for 62, batting average .129. That’s lower than any of their previous 22 postseason runs since 1901.
They hit .140 in the one-game Wild Card loss in 2018 and .145 in their two-game World Cup loss in 2020.
Other seasons below .200:
.168 in 2017 (10 games)
.181 in 1998 (3 games)
.194 in 2007 (3 games)
.196 in 1906 (6 games)They hit .233 in 17 games when they won the World Series in 2016.
These are things Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer will need to address this offseason, and that brings me to the uncertainty ahead. Normally, at the end of a Cubs season, I’ll tell you when we’ll see a Chicago Cubs team on the field the following year. They are scheduled to take the field on Friday, February 19, 2027 against the A’s at Ho Ho Kam Stadium in Mesa, Arizona. But with an looming owner lockout likely to occur when the current MLB/MLBPA collective bargaining agreement expires on Dec. 1, there is no guarantee that the 2027 spring training schedule — or the regular season schedule — will play out as currently outlined.
And so we wait. For developments, as we often say here.
In the meantime, stick around. We’ll have threads here for all remaining playoff games, including tonight’s deciding Phillies/Braves Game 3, which kicks off at 7 p.m. CT (game thread will be posted at 6 p.m. CT). And of course, we’ll cover all the MLB offseason work and other baseball news here.
As is my wont, I’ll end my final game recap of the year by quoting the late Commissioner Bart Giamatti’s “Green Fields of the Mind” – quite appropriate today with the Chicago area weather.
It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in spring, when everything starts again, and it blooms in summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, then as soon as the freezing rains arrive, it stops and leaves you to face autumn alone. You rely on it, you rely on it to cushion the passage of time, to keep alive the memory of the sun and the high sky, and then, just at dusk, when you need it most, it stops.
Gn sports
