Nico Hoerner tripled in the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th inning and the visiting Chicago Cubs handed the San Diego Padres their first home loss, 2-1, on Tuesday night.
With Dansby Swanson placed at second base as the automatic runner, Hoerner lined a 2-0 fastball from Yuki Matsui (0-1) to the gap in right-center, easily scoring Swanson. It capped a three-hit game for Hoerner.
Ryan Pressly (1-1) got the win with a 1-2-3 ninth and Caleb Thielbar earned his first save, retiring Luis Arraez on a fly ball to left with runners at the corners and two outs in San Diego’s half of the 10th.
The outcome snapped the Padres’ 11-game winning streak at Petco Park to start the season and ended their bid for what would have been the best start in franchise history. San Diego carried a 15-game home winning streak into the game, dating back to last year.
Neither starter was involved in the decision. Chicago’s Shota Imanaga allowed four hits and an unearned run in five innings, with three walks and seven strikeouts, while San Diego’s Randy Vasquez lasted five-plus innings, permitting seven hits and a run while walking two and fanning two.
Both teams operated from the same script in the game’s first half, building rallies and then not cashing in. The Cubs stranded a pair of runners in the third and the Padres left the bases loaded in the third, then couldn’t convert with men at second and third and one out an inning later.
San Diego got on the board in the fifth when Manny Machado ripped a 400-foot homer to left-center. It came after right fielder Kyle Tucker dropped his foul fly, followed by third baseman Gage Workman clanking a foul pop-up just to the left of the plate. It was Machado’s second homer.
Chicago tied it in the sixth. Swanson singled, moved to third on Hoerner’s single and scored when Arraez mishandled Pete Crow-Armstrong’s safety squeeze bunt.
The Cubs won despite stranding 14 baserunners.
