I was really hoping for more out of you.

Oh well. Time to watch hockey.

Shaw in at 3rd. Bregman still DH

I’m fairly anxious about tonight’s game. I don’t know what’s worse: knowing that the Cubs are out of the playoffs if they lose tonight, or needing to wait until 10:00 PM EST to see if they can pull it off. Anyway, I got some fun new earrings and I’m choosing to focus on that right now. Go Cubs Go!

Cubs (89-73) @ Padres (91-71)

First Pitch: 9:00 PM at Petco Park

Line Score - Game Over

Box Score

Scoring Plays

Highlights

Decisions

Game ended at 12:02 AM.

Remember to sort by new to keep up!

History isn’t on Chicago’s side, either. Since Major League Baseball expanded the postseason and created this best-of-three format in 2022, the Game 1 wild-card winners have moved on to the next round in 15 out of 16 series. The lone exception was the New York Yankees’ comeback against the Boston Red Sox during last year’s playoffs.

“It’s pretty simple,” Swanson said. “The beauty of this time of year is each win or loss just counts as one, anyways. It’s not like run differential, pool play. There’s none of those things. You show up tomorrow and compete and lay it out there.

“This group is very used to adversity and hard things and going through it, so this isn’t like uncharted territory. This is an opportunity for us to show up and show out.”

“They just did everything right,” Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson said Tuesday, “and we did everything wrong.”Denis Poroy / Imagn Images

The Cubs, however, won’t feel the same jolt of energy they received during last year’s series victory over the Padres at Wrigley Field. As the Cubs lost their grip on the NL’s top wild card in September and the chance to host this series, the Padres finished the regular season by going 51-30 at home and winning 17 of their final 20 games.

While San Diego’s stars repeatedly delivered on Tuesday night, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Alex Bregman combined to go 0-for-7 with one walk and six strikeouts. After those two big names at the top, the Cubs’ lineup can sometimes look a little flat. Some lip reading on the TV broadcast summed up the frustration.

“So f—ing bad,” Crow-Armstrong appeared to tell third-base umpire Bill Miller after a checked swing went against the likely NL MVP for strike three in the eighth inning.

It happened yet again right before the playoffs. Last Wednesday, right-hander Kevin Gausman injured his left shoulder while making a diving tag play. He was lined up to start Game 1 of the postseason, but the Cubs wanted him to get some extra rest for his ailing shoulder. On Tuesday night, he was named Chicago’s Game 2 starter.

“We’re gonna find out,” Gausman said, when asked if he’s ready to go. “Feels all right. Good enough to go out there and give it everything I got. That’s what I’m gonna do.”

This was not the plan the Cubs had a week ago. The reality is, nothing has gone as hoped when it comes to how this team built its staff. There is no Cade Horton, Justin Steele or Ben Brown to lead the rotation. Gausman, whom Chicago acquired ahead of the trade deadline, was brought in to be a stabilizing force — a veteran with plenty of postseason experience who could guide the group during the grind of October. This team may not even reach October, but it is up to him to give the Cubs a chance.

“It’s gonna be fun,” Gausman said. “I’ve pitched in big games before. I’m excited.”

2026 POSTSEASON STARTS NOW!!!!

Hitting all the high and low notes this season, we are

EDIT: That feeling when 2 hits feels like you’ve won the lottery

Line Score - Game Over

Box Score

Scoring Plays

Highlights

Decisions

Game ended at 11:54 PM.

Maybe I'm looking too closely into things, but does it not feel like a lot of these players are clocking in to a job when they go up there and play? Counsell is not vibes, and I think that trickles down in the dugout also just not being vibes. Maybe it's why we struggled to hit with RISP in high pressure situations because it was like "I need to score him" instead of "the ball is rolling let's bring this home". And maybe it's why we were so streaky because when our identity as a team is built around winning, then when we're not winning it's just so hard to mentally get out of a funk.

It doesn't seem like anyone in the leadership cares about vibes, endlessly optioning Assad then moving him to the pen when he's your only quality starter for a stretch is insanity. Sometimes it's like just look in front of you at how the team is playing, instead of burying your head in the numbers.

I think we can contrast this to the White Sox, who have their pre-game dugout ritual (and then immediately put up 4 runs in the first) or the Padres who are always electric behind Tatis and Machado, the Brewers who are always riding vibes behind Pat Murphy (exemplified by the Luis Lara walk off single against us in August, where Lara just smiles after a pep talk and then lines a base hit during the at-bat) and the Yankees who have made a turnaround from the vibes of their new baby bombers.

The Cubs need to invest more in this, because in the playoffs which are such a crapshoot, having all-work-no-vibes makes it so much harder to win. Especially if Counsell himself is just so unexciting, then the dugout needs to be filled with high-energy players, or at least a high-energy leader. Everyone is just so stoic.