Cubs beat – Dansby Swanson hit three home runs, including a grand slam, and the Chicago Cubs thrashed the San Diego Padres 23-3 on Wednesday at Wrigley Field.
CHICAGO — The Cubs didn’t just win on Wednesday; they detonated. Dansby Swanson cleared the bases with a grand slam, then added two more homers as Chicago hammered the San Diego Padres 23-3.
Swanson finished with a career-high eight RBIs and matched a rare kind of power surge for a hitter in the No. 9 spot. Michael Conforto also went deep twice, while Seiya Suzuki, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Michael Busch contributed homers of their own. The 23 runs were the most the Cubs have scored in a home game since 1977.
Swanson came in red-hot. He hit two home runs on Tuesday, and he became the first Cub to post back-to-back multihomer games since Patrick Wisdom in August 2021. Over the past 13 games, Swanson has nine home runs and 29 RBIs.
The day’s fireworks had some help from the weather. A day after Chicago and San Diego combined for nine homers in a 9-7 Cubs win, the teams added nine more Wednesday with the wind howling to center. Sung-Min Song hit the first Padres home run of the game, the first of his major league career.
The Cubs. aided by the wind and a lineup that kept turning swings into damage. improved to 14-5 this season with the wind blowing out at Wrigley Field. They also stretched a streak of dominance—Chicago has won five straight and swept San Diego. which entered Wednesday at 43-42. The Padres, however, have lost five in a row.
Suzuki’s swing carried its own milestone weight. His three-run homer in the first inning made him the fourth Japanese-born player in major league history to reach 100 career hits, joining Shohei Ohtani (290), Hideki Matsui (175) and Ichiro Suzuki (117).
On the mound, Colin Rea kept the damage controlled just long enough for the Cubs’ offense to take over early, allowing two runs on six hits while getting through two bases-loaded jams in five innings. Jordan Wicks worked three innings and earned his second save.
For San Diego, Walker Buehler absorbed the roughest inning stretch, allowing nine runs in four innings. Fernando Tatis Jr., usually a spark at the top, went 0 for 4 and ended a 23-game on-base streak.
Rodolfo Duran took the ball late, pitching the final two innings. It was his second appearance this season—and it turned into a long outing by necessity, as he allowed eight runs on 31 pitches.
The final tally landed with a blunt force clarity: after Tuesday’s homer-heavy win, Wednesday’s combination of wind and momentum delivered again—only louder, and with the Cubs going one-sided enough to produce their biggest home scoring explosion in nearly five decades.
San Diego will try to regroup for Thursday’s game at the Dodgers. but the Padres have not named a starter. The Dodgers feature RHP Roki Sasaki (3-5, 4.88 ERA). The Cubs are off Thursday and have not announced pitchers for a home series against St. Louis beginning Friday. RHP Andre Pallante (9-5, 3.83) starts Friday for the Cardinals.
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