Can red-hot Padres slow down Cubs in wild card showdown?
USA TODAY Sports’ MLB experts break down the Padres-Cubs wild card matchup and the key factors that could decide the series.
Sports Seriously
SAN DIEGO — The crowd stood on its feet Tuesday night, watched the bullpen gate open in center field, and there he was, No. 44, strolling onto the field.
Joe Musgrove first started walking, and then as the scoreboard showed his face, began jogging to the mound. He stopped, tugged at his belt, pounded his right fist into his glove, and then skipped to the mound as his San Diego Padres teammates stood on the top step of the dugout cheering.
Everyone else in the sellout crowd of 47,084 at Petco Park was giving their homegrown hero a standing ovation, too.
The playoff game was long decided by the time Musgrove entered in the ninth inning, with the Padres routing the Chicago Cubs, 8-0, in their biggest postseason shutout in franchise history in Game 1 of their wild card series against the Chicago Cubs.
Now, even after Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado homered in the first inning, even with ace Michael King flirting with a no-hitter into the seventh inning, with the Padres out-hitting the Cubs, 13-3, this was the moment this fans had long awaited.
It had been two long years, Oct. 2, 2024, to be exact, when they last saw Musgrove step onto the mound.
Musgrove underwent Tommy John surgery after he walked off the mound in that 2024 postseason game against Atlanta, missed the entire 2025 season, and believed he’d be ready to start this season. Then, came the heartbreak. Setback after setback. He believed at times he could be back, and other times wondering if he’d ever even pitch again.
“I’ve been through a lot of a lot of headaches and a lot of negative thoughts over the last year and a half,” Musgrove told a handful of reporters Tuesday night at his locker “You know, a lot of it’s self-inflicted. I get into these ruts of just feeling like I’m letting people down, and I’m not holding up my end of the deal.
“But you know, the work and the effort I’m putting in is really all I can control.”
Musgrove, who was told two days ago that he’d be on the playoff roster, began warming up in the eighth inning. His legs felt like jelly. He could feel his heart pounding against his chest. He hadn’t felt nerves like this since, well, maybe the night of Apri 9, 2021, when he threw the first no-hitter in Padres history.
“It was the most nervous I’ve been,” Musgrove said, “pitching with an eight-run lead.”
Now, coming in just to record the final three outs in mop-up relief, he felt as if he were on the mound trying to save a one-run game in Game 7 of the World Series, with the crowd on its feet screaming.
“I had been visualizing this and going through it in my head,” Musgrove said. “So I expected it to get a little loud and people to be excited. But I didn’t expect quite that crazy of a mound.”
When Musgrove stepped on the mound, he became only the second player in MLB history to appear in a postseason game directly after missing two entire regular seasons. The only other man to pull off the feat was catcher Clyde McCullough in the 1945 World Series, after missing the previous two seasons serving in World War II.
“I’ve been here before, you know, pitching in the playoffs and pitching a big game,” Musgrove said. “So it was just the mental preparation, finding ways to calm down, kind of mentally putting myself in those situations, feeling how the emotions are going to be, and knowing where my mind tends to go in those moments.”
Musgrove, on his first pitch in 727 days, fired a 95.8-mph fastball to Michael Busch. Strike 1. The crowd screamed, and his teammates yelled. He struck out Busch on three pitches. Then, the rust began to show, along with the nerves. He gave up a single to Seiya Suzuki. Then he walked Ian Happ. Nico Hoerner loaded the bases with a sharp single to center field.
Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla went to the mound to settle down Musgrove as Padres manager Craig Stammen picked up the bullpen phone to tell All-Star closer Mason Miller to warm up.
Musgrove exhaled, induced a pop-up from Pedro Ramirez to second baseman Jake Cronenworth for the second out, and then on the sixth pitch of the at-bat, struck out Michael Conforto, who helplessly watched an 82.5-mph curveball cross the plate.
The crowd erupted. So did his teammates.
They rushed to the mound and greeted him, one by one, with emotional bear hugs and back slaps. Every single player on the team congratulated him, some with tears in their eyes.
“That was dope,” Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill told USA TODAY Sports. “We did a lot of good things out there, but nothing compared to watching Joe do that. That was the best part of the game, in my opinion.”
This is a guy who was born and raised in San Diego, grew up a diehard Padres fan, who signed a five-year, $100 million contract extension to stay with the Padres, and was perhaps as big part of the city’s fabric as any athlete since Padres Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn and Junior Seau of the San Diego Chargers.
“It’s been really hard for me to sit back and, you know, with the contract and all,” Musgrove said, “and not pitch for two years. I’ve done everything in my power to get back on the mound, and it just hasn’t gone my way. …
“So, I’m sure coming back in any scenario would feel good, but to come back in a playoff situation with the crowd the way they were tonight at home, yeah, that’s perfect.”
Really, it was a Hollywood moment that had everyone in the Padres clubhouse elated.
“YWe couldn’t script it any better what happened tonight,” said Tatis, who hit the first leadoff home run in Padres franchise history. “Today was a beautiful baseball night over here for every San Diegan.”
And, yes, particularly Musgrove, who had his parents, family, friends, his pitching coach since he was 15, and personal trainer all in attendance.
“It was emotional for a lot of people and especially Joe,” Stammen said. “The fan base has always loved Joe because he’s one of their own, and rightly so, they should. …
“For Joe to finish that game is pretty awesome.”
Cronenworth echoed the sentiments of everyone in the celebratory Padres clubhouse, simply saying, “What a night. I couldn’t be happier for him. Joe deserved this.”
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