History takes center stage as Cubs trounce Padres to complete sweep

CHICAGO -- You know it's a bad day at the ballpark when your backup catcher is on the mound in the seventh inning trailing by 12 runs. It's worse when that game turns into the worst loss in franchise history, as the San Diego Padres were swept by the Chicago Cubs in a 23-3 rout Wednesday afternoon at Wrigley Field.

In a pivotal game where San Diego desperately needed to bounce-back and find any possible way to avoid a sweep against a team competing for a wild card positioning, the club suffered one of the most embarrassing blowout losses in the majors this season.

History stole the show in the series finale. The 20-run pummeling marked the largest margin of victory for Chicago since a 21-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on April 23, 2022. The Cubs blasted eight home runs, tying the franchise record for homers in a single game while setting a new club mark with 13 homers over a two-game span. Chicago's offensive barrage included home runs that traveled a combined 5,348 feet over the final two games of the series. 

Prior to Wednesday, it had been over 30 years since the Cubs last scored 23 runs in a game, with the previous occurrence coming against the Colorado Rockies in 1995.

Seiya Suzuki, who walked off San Diego's star closer Mason Miller in the series opener, started the offensive explosion with a three-run homer off Walker Buehler in the first inning. The blast marked Suzuki's 100th home run of his career, making him just the fourth Japanese player in MLB history to reach the milestone, joining a list consisting of Hideki Matsui, Ichiro Suzuki, and four-time MVP Shohei Ohtani. 

In the eighth inning against Rodolfo Duran, Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson patiently waited on a 43 mph eephus pitch before launching a grand slam into the left-field bleachers, putting an exclamation point on Chicago's blowout victory. The homer was the third of the afternoon for Swanson, marking the first three-homer game of his career while giving him eight RBIs on the day and 11 in the last two games. Swanson became just the fourth player in Cubs history to hit five home runs across a two-game span.

While Chicago spent the afternoon rewriting the history books, San Diego authored an equally historic—but far less enjoyable—chapter of its own. The Padres surrendered a franchise-record 23 runs, eclipsing their previous high of 20 runs allowed in a single game. Buehler endured the worst start of his big league career, allowing nine earned runs on seven hits while walking four across four innings. The poor start to July comes after a strong month of June where Buehler allowed five runs in 26.1 innings while surrendering just two homers.

Buehler's outing reached a boiling point in the third when he appeared to miscommunicate with Duran, who was catching at the time, over pitch selection during an at-bat against left fielder Ian Happ. After shaking off Duran several times, Buehler fired a 94 mph sinker that Happ drilled over the head Fernando Tatis Jr. and off the green ivy wall. The 31-year-old would allow five runs in the frame, which included Swanson's second homer in as many innings.

To make matters worse, the Padres postgame show teased comments from manager Craig Stammen twice after the game before quickly going off the air without fans getting a chance to hear from the skipper. It's the type of day the entire organization will want to forget. 

Despite the historic loss, a lone bright spot emerged for San Diego as infielder Sung-Mun Song launched his first major league home run into the right-field basket in the fifth inning.

With its fifth straight defeat, San Diego sits at 43-42, 2.5 games out of the final National League Wild Card spot and 12.5 games behind the first-place Dodgers heading into a pivotal series in Los Angeles.

Right-hander Randy Vasquez (6-6, 4.44 ERA) takes the mound for San Diego on Thursday looking to snap the skid and will be countered by RHP Roki Sazaki (3-5, 4.88 ERA), who makes his 15th start of the season for Los Angeles. First pitch from Dodger Stadium set for 7:10 p.m.