SAN DIEGO PADRES NOTES:
Fernando Tatis Jr. has his 1st 3-RBI game since 2021 as Padres claim a 5-3 comeback win
• Last night was Fernando Tatis Jr.’s 18th-career 3-RBI game and his 1st since September 11, 2021 @ LAD…Jake Cronenworth tripled for the 2nd time this year, and since debuting in 2020, his 16 triples lead the NL.
• Starter Michael Wacha went 5.0 innings and allowed 3 runs (earned) on 4 hits with 5 punchouts…he walked 1 with a homer allowed…out of the bullpen, Nick Martinez picked up his 2nd win of the year, tossing 3.0 innings of 3-hit, scoreless ball with 2 strikeouts and no walks…Josh Hader closed the door for his Major League-leading 9th save of the season.
Catching up to the heat
• Per Statcast, Padre batters’ .228 against breaking balls rank 8th in the Majors, their .216 clip vs. off-speed pitches rank 19th, and their .209 clip vs. fastballs ranks last in the Majors…when facing pitches that have been thrown at least 93 mph, they’ve hit just .199, the lowest mark in the National League.
Padres record when…
• Last night’s W was the Padres’ 1st win of the year when trailing after 6 innings (previously were 0-11).
• When SD leads after 6, they are 12-1…the Friars are looking for their 1st rubber game win of 2023 today and their 3rd series win of the year (and their 3rd overall, having gone 0-2-2 at home so far).
Padres batters have taken 55.2% of the pitches they’ve seen
• San Diego bats rank 4th in the Majors in percentage of pitches taken at 55.2%, behind the Rangers (55.5%), Mets (56.0%), and Dodgers (56.2%).
• They’ve swung at the 1st pitch 26.2% of the time, the 6th lowest 1st pitch swinging percentage (the Cubs rank 4th with a 25.9% first pitch swinging percentage).
RISP highs and lows
• The Friars had 3 hits last night with RISP (3-for-10) after going 0-for-8 on Tuesday night @ CHC…San Diego’s .196 batting average with RISP (38-for-194) is still the worst mark in baseball.
• When hitting with RISP on the road, they’re hitting .224 with a .736 OPS…when at home with RISP, however, they’re hitting .161 with a .464 OPS
Up Next: Mexico!
• The Padres are on a casual 11-day, 9-game trip that includes a 2-game “home” series in Mexico City at Alfredo Harp Helú Stadium vs. SF to cap the trip from April 29-30…after the Padres’ 3 game set in CHC, they will fly to Mexico City, have an off day in Mexico on April 28, and host a 2-game series vs. SF before flying home and hosting the Reds the next day on May 1st.
• This will be the 1st regular season series in Mexico City in MLB history (previous games were all in Monterrey)…the series will also be the 1st MLB games to be played in the newly built Alfredo Harp Helú Stadium.
• It will be the Padres 4th regular season appearance in Mexico, more than any other team…the Padres played in the 1st-ever Mexico Series in 1996 against the Mets in Monterrey (won 2-1), and they also played their 1999 season opener in Monterrey vs. Colorado (lost 8-2)…the Friars returned in 2018 for a 3-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers (won the series 2-1)…the Padres overall regular season record in Mexico is 4-3 in 7 games.
• This will mark the 6th time MLB teams have played regular season games in Mexico, and 3 of the previous 5 have involved the Padres.
CHICAGO CUBS NOTES:
Cubs vs. Padres
The Cubs and the Padres will face each other seven times this season, opening with this three-game set at home … Chicago has taken three of the last four season series, going 16-11 in that span, with each of the previous sets at Wrigley involving a sweep (0-4 in 2022 and 3-0 in 2021).
STAY CLASSY, SAN DIEGO: The Chicago Cubs today play the final game of the three-game set against the Padres after the Cubs fell 5-3 last night in the second game of the set … Drew Smyly received a no-decision, throwing 5.0 innings and allowing two runs on four hits and one walk with four strikeouts … he has allowed two-or-fewer runs in each of his last four starts (23.1 IP) and posted a 1.54 ERA in those games … Mancini continued his hot streak, hitting his third home run of the season … he has reached base safely in five of his last six games and his hitting .421 (8-for-19) with a double, two home runs, five RBI and a 1.289 OPS during that span.
PUT IT ON THE SCHEDULE: The team departs today following the game for a seven-game trip at the Marlins (3 games starting tomorrow) and Nationals (4 games beginning May 1), which will start a stretch of 22 games in which 16 of them are away from Wrigley Field … in those 22 games, just one three-game set is against a division foe (vs. St. Louis, May 8-10) … in fact, in the team’s next 41 games thru June 11, the Cubs will face teams in the N.L. Central just twice: May 8-10 vs. St. Louis (3 G) and May 26-28 vs. Cincinnati (3 G).
With these three games against San Diego, Chicago will wrap up a stretch of 19 games (11-7), all against A.L. or N.L. West teams.
Following today’s game, the Cubs will have played a team from California over 13 consecutive games … the longest stretch of games against teams from one state in franchise history was 22 games (3 times), each involving California teams, in 1984, 1985 and 1988.
LET’S GO STREAKING: With Mancini’s blast last night, the Cubs have tallied a home run in a season-high seven consecutive games … it is the team’s longest such streak since Aug. 13-21 of last season (9G) … the stretch is tied for the fourth longest streak in the N.L. this season and stands as the longest active streak.
GOMES’ BAT GETS GOING: Yan Gomes has reached based safely in each of his last nine games with hits in eight of them, including five multi-hit efforts … he is 16-for-38 (.421) with four home runs, nine RBI, nine runs scored, a .763 slugging percentage and a 1.199 OPS since April 11 … his .421 average ranks second the N.L. in that span (min. 9 G) and his slugging percentage is third (behind Max Muncy, 1.000, and Jack Suwinski, .846).
Tuesday he went 4-for-4 and hit his second home run in as many games … he last homered in back-to-back games June 15-16, 2021 … he tallied four hits in a game for the fifth time in his career (first since Sept. 7, 2022 vs. CIN) and did so without recording an out for the second time (also Sept. 7, 2022).
DON’T SLEEP ON YAN’S DEFENSE: Yan Gomes, in addition to his offensive showing, threw out a runner in Tuesday’s win, his third caught stealing in as many attempts … he is the first Cubs catcher to have four-plus hits including a home run and catch a runner stealing since Henry Blanco did it July 24, 2005. (source: Elias)
The .201 opponents average with him behind the dish leads major league catchers who have caught at least half of their team games and his 3.02 catchers ERA is good for second.
YOU GO, NICO!: Nico Hoerner in the season’s early going is hitting .340 (35-for-103) with 20 runs scored, five doubles, one triple, two homers, 15 RBI and 10 stolen bases, having reached base safely in 22 of 23 games played … his 35 hits are fourth-most in the majors and his 10 stolen bases rank tied for second while his 20 runs scored are tied for fifth.
Hoerner has reached base safely in a career-high 21-straight games since April 2, tied for the third-longest active streak in the majors.
Hoerner’s .340 average ranks third among all qualifying leadoff hitters, trailing Ronald Acuña Jr. (.363) and Brandon Nimmo (.341).
ARM CARE: Cubs pitching has posted a 3.57 ERA (82 ER/206.2 IP) this season, the third-best mark in the N.L. and seventh in the majors … the starting rotation has a 3.11 ERA (42 ER/121.2 IP), the second-best mark in baseball behind Tampa Bay (2.97).
Cubs relievers have posted a 5.70 ERA (15 ER/23.2 IP) during this homestand after starting the season with a 3.67 ERA (25 ER/61.1 IP) through the teams first 17 games … the ‘pen has averaged 11.22 strikeouts per 9.0 innings, the second-best mark in the majors (Cardinals are first with an 11.45 rate).
TWO STRIKES? SO WHAT?: The Cubs lead the majors with a .220 average (97-for441), a .298 on-base percentage and a .363 slugging percentage when batting with two strikes in the count … Chicago’s 54 RBI with two strikes are second in the majors and it’s 14 homers when down to the final strike rank tied for second.
Patrick Wisdom’s six home runs and 10 extra-base hits with two strikes on him lead the majors, while his 11 RBI are tied for the second behind Albies (12) .
DO NOT PASS ‘GO’: Chicago Tuesday shutout the Padres for their fifth shutout victory in the 22nd game of the season … that pace is tied for second fewest games to five shutouts in Cubs franchise history, also in 1969 and 1902 … the Cubs got to five in 21 games in 1885 and 1907. (Thanks to Ed Hartig for this info!)
CHICAGO IS A 10: Chicago’s pitching staff struck out 10 batters Tuesday against the Padres, the fourth such performance in the last six games and 14th on the season … the Cubs 14 games with 10-plus strikeouts are tied for the league lead (also Houston, Minnesota and the Yankees) … additionally, Chicago ranks tied for third-fewest with five games of 10-or-more batter strikeouts (Arizona and Cleveland are tied for the fewest with four each).
