SAN DIEGO, CA — San Diego’s LatinoMVP-winning duo of Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado made sure the Cubs would have zero chance of winning Game 1 of their National League Wild Card Series matchup Tuesday night, hitting back-to-back home runs in the first inning to put the Padres up big and early in Friar Land.
The sold-out crowd of 47,084 at Petco Park was unhinged when Tatis and Machado launched missiles into the stands—three pitches apart from each other against Chicago’s starting pitcher Matthew Boyd.
El flow de Fernando Tatis Jr. es único 🔥 pic.twitter.com/LsxpNDnLYu
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) September 30, 2026
On a 2-0 Padres lead, the Cubs seemed rattled after the 405-foot bomb from Tatis and Machado’s 391-foot blast, respectively.
“As an offensive group, we wanted to continue what we’ve been doing all year. We set the tone and got the energy on our side,” said Machado, winning the NL LatinoMVP Award in 2022.
“Petco was rocking today. It was unbelievable to play in front of.”
They say blonds have more fun. pic.twitter.com/Ug3PJsATcd
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) September 30, 2026
His fellow superstar teammate Tatis, taking home the NL LatinoMVP in 2020, described the 8-0 win and evening as a “beautiful baseball night.”
“We couldn’t script it any better, I feel like, what happened tonight. Today was a beautiful baseball night over here for every San Diegoan.”
Erasing his rough start which saw the Dominican outfielder go the first 56 games of 2026 without hitting a home run, Tatis still finished the year with 25. The 27-year-old (2-3 with one RBI, three runs scored and a walk) also showed off his speed in Tuesday’s victory by doing his thing on the bases, scoring from first base on a stolen base attempt after a wild hop.
FERNANDO TATIS JR. ARE YOU SERIOUS?! pic.twitter.com/hsHlrxILZk
— MLB (@MLB) September 30, 2026
Machado, 34, also got off to a slow start with a .174 batting average through the end of May, but like Tatis, he responded and ended up hitting .240 the rest of the way and finished with 30 home runs on the season—399 for his career.
After his first inning HR, Machado was far from done with an RBI double that extended the lead to 3-0 in the third.
A very productive night for the Dominican third baseman going 2-for-3 with two RBI and a walk.
Double trouble 🤘 pic.twitter.com/6IGyimOkrb
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) September 30, 2026
“Great confidence getting out to a lead right away, and coming from your two biggest players makes everyone settle in just a little bit,” said Padres manager Craig Stammen. “Then as the game went on, we got contributions from everybody, and they kept doing it too. When those guys are leading the charge, we’re a pretty tough team.”
Looking Ahead to Game 2
The Padres, up 1-0 and one win away from the NLDS, will give the ball to Nick Pivetta (3-2, 2.86 ERA) Wednesday night in Game 2 of the best of three NL Wild Card Series as the Cubs turn to Kevin Gausman (9-12, 4.51 ERA) to try and save Chicago’s season.
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