Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado gave Petco Park the kind of October opening it has come to expect from them, going back-to-back in the first inning to send the Padres past Cubs starter Matthew Boyd in Game 1 of the National League Wild Card Series on Tuesday night.
Tatis stepped in to lead off the bottom of the first and did not wait around. Boyd’s first pitch of the night was driven 405 feet, by Statcast projection, into the Padres bullpen beyond left-center field. Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong made a leaping try at the wall, but the ball carried just beyond his glove.
The shot made Tatis the first Padre ever to open a postseason game with a leadoff homer. It also brought back the memory of his Game 1 swing in the 2024 Wild Card Series, when he hit a first-inning two-run homer against Atlanta’s Reynaldo López.
Machado followed shortly afterward and made the early statement even louder. Boyd left an 81.5 mph changeup on the outer part of the plate, and Machado sent it into the seats in left field for a quick 2-0 San Diego lead.
It was the first time in Padres postseason history that the club had hit two home runs in the opening inning. San Diego had previously hit multiple homers in an inning eight times in postseason play, but never in the first.
There was a recent bit of history between the two Padres stars and Boyd, too. On June 30 at Wrigley Field, Tatis and Machado each took the Cubs left-hander deep, with Tatis again supplying a leadoff blast. Boyd arrived in San Diego having avoided a home run over his previous 119 batters faced during September, but the Padres’ cornerstones ended that run in a matter of minutes.
For Tatis and Machado, the first inning was another reminder that October has a way of finding the players who want the spotlight most. For the Padres, it was a roaring start to a postseason series at home.
Game 2 of the National League Wild Card Series is scheduled for Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET, 9 p.m. CT and 7 p.m. PT on Peacock and NBCSN.
