Two days before his first Major League Baseball playoff game, Seiya Suzuki tried to envision what the experience and environment might entail. Suzuki hadn’t asked any of his 14 Chicago Cubs teammates who previously played in a postseason to describe it.

Daniel Palencia, Drew Pomeranz, Andrew Kittredge and Brad Keller combine for 4 2/3 perfect innings against the Padres to secure the Cubs win in Game 1

This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/cubs as Cubs Final Roster For National League Wild Card Matchup vs Padres Is Officially Set. The regular season is over and everything that the Chicago Cubs worked for is finally here.

The upcoming three-game postseason series, pitting the Chicago Cubs against the San Diego Padres, starts on Tuesday, September 30, with the first pitch scheduled for 3:08 p.m. ET. Date: Tuesday, Sept. 30

Twenty-seven outs into their 2025 postseason run, the Padres’ backs are against the wall. They dropped a tense Wild Card Series opener, 3-1, to the Cubs on Tuesday afternoon at Wrigley Field.

Preview the Sept. 30 NL Wild Card Game 1 matchup between the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres with odds over/under, game spread, betting lines and more.

Adrian Morejon took the mound in the bottom of the sixth inning and allowed back-to-back singles. He then induced a groundball to Machado at third base, who threw to Jake Cronenworth at second base and he threw to Luis Arraez at first base to complete the double play. Morejon then got Kyle Tucker to pop out to center field to end the frame.

But the win wasn’t comfortable until the final out. For most of the contest, Skubal and Gavin Williams were locked in a pitchers' duel. At the end of the sixth inning, the score sat at 1-1, and Skubal and Williams had each notched at least eight strikeouts.