The Clubhouse DJ: Sheets' pinch-hit homer propels Padres past Cubs 4-1 into NLDS
By Nate Mercer ·
Gavin Sheets stepped in as a pinch-hitter with Xander Bogaerts on second and two outs in the bottom of the fourth at Petco Park. Sheets was behind 0-1 and he got a down-and-in 101 mph fastball from Daniel Palencia thats he turned around at 108 mph over the right-field wall. The two-run homer pushed San Diego's lead to 4-1. The Padres never trailed. They finished NL Wild Card Game 2 that way on Wednesday night and swept the best-of-three series.
Chicago had already been blanked 8-0 in Game 1. Kevin Gausman and Nick Pivetta were the starters for the elimination night, and the game stayed scoreless through a clean first. In the second, Ty France doubled to left, Jackson Merrill beat out a soft grounder to third, and France took third. Bogaerts punched an RBI single to right. Ethan Salas followed with a sacrifice fly to center that scored Merrill. Petco had a 2-0 Padres lead before Gausman got out of the inning.
The Cubs cut it to one in the top of the fourth. Seiya Suzuki lined a single to center, Ian Happ walked, and Nico Hoerner singled through the middle to score Suzuki. That was Chicago's first run of the series. Pivetta left after the Hoerner hit, and Bradgley Rodriguez inherited runners on first and second with one out. He struck out Matt Shaw, hit Carson Kelly to load the bases, then got Dansby Swanson on a fly ball to Merrill in center. The 2-1 lead held.
Gausman opened the bottom of the fourth by striking out Merrill, then allowed Bogaerts' line-drive double to center. Palencia came on, struck out Salas, and faced Sheets in Hays' spot. Sheets finished 1-for-1 with two RBI. Gausman took the loss: 3.1 innings, five hits, three earned runs, no walks, one strikeout, 54 pitches. Palencia worked 1.2 innings after that and allowed only the Sheets blast.
From there San Diego's bullpen finished the job. Rodriguez earned the win with 1.2 scoreless innings. Jason Adam threw a clean sixth. Adrian Morejon worked two innings and turned Suzuki's eighth-inning grounder into a double play after Tyrone Taylor's single. Mason Miller closed the ninth for the save: a strikeout of Happ, a Hoerner double, a strikeout of Michael Conforto, and a groundout from Kelly. Miller: one inning, one hit, two strikeouts.
Merrill went 2-for-3 with a walk, a run, and a stolen base. Bogaerts finished 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI, and a run. France was 2-for-4 with the early double. Hoerner led Chicago with two hits, including a ninth-inning double, and the RBI single. The Cubs managed five hits and left seven on base. San Diego had eight hits and left five.
Pivetta did not factor in the decision after 3.1 innings: three hits, one earned run, two walks, four strikeouts on 66 pitches. David Peterson and Ryan Zeferjahn kept the Padres off the board after Palencia, but the deficit stayed three. San Diego wins the series 2-0 and advances to the NL Division Series against the Milwaukee Brewers. Chicago's season ends at Petco.
Weekend Concert Pick
If I'm going to one show this weekend, it's Friday, October 2, when The Fiery Furnaces play Roulette in Brooklyn with Oneida and Skeletons Big Band. Doors open at 7, the show starts at 8, and advance tickets are $35. Roulette is a renovated old theater on Atlantic Avenue that holds about 550 standing, small enough that you can see the balcony from the floor. It's the rock night of a two-night event for Ronen Givony's book Us v. Them, with Eleanor and Matthew Friedberger back as a guitar-bass-drums band. Get there for the openers.
Make a trip of it. Ace Hotel Brooklyn is a few blocks away, Finer Sounds sells vinyl inside the Ace until 6, and El Zason does al pastor and birria tacos down the block on Atlantic. If Boston is closer, Interpol and DIIV play Roadrunner on Sunday, though that room holds about 3,500.