SAN DIEGO — Michael King took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and Fernando Tatis Jr. homered on the first pitch he saw as the San Diego Padres routed the Chicago Cubs 8-0 on Tuesday night in Game 1 of their National League Wild Card Series at Petco Park.
King struck out eight and walked none over seven innings of two-hit ball, setting the tone from his first pitch — a 98 mph fastball. He retired the first 15 batters he faced before Chicago finally broke through in the sixth.
Tatis wasted no time giving San Diego the lead. He drove a 405-foot shot off Cubs starter Matthew Boyd in the bottom of the first, the first leadoff home run in Padres postseason history.
"Just the energy of our fans, our group, how we're feeling playing at home — all that stuff just adds together," Tatis said. "You just feel like your blood is running inside your body so fast."
The Padres never let up. San Diego piled on against Boyd and the Chicago bullpen, turning a one-run game into a blowout and giving the Petco Park crowd of more than 45,000 little to worry about after the first inning.
The win puts the Padres one victory from advancing. Game 2 is Wednesday in San Diego, with Chicago facing elimination.
Joe Musgrove closed it out in his first appearance in two years, working around a bases-loaded jam to keep the shutout intact. Musgrove, a San Diego native and the team's longtime ace, had been sidelined since Tommy John surgery and multiple setbacks this season.
According to ESPN, no pitcher had gone at least 700 days without appearing in a game and then returned in the playoffs.
"It was amazing, man," Musgrove said. "I'm sure coming back in any scenario would feel good, but to come back in a playoff situation, with the crowd the way they were at home — yeah."
San Diego entered the postseason riding two months of strong play and a wild-card berth. The Cubs, who finished the regular season as one of the NL's hotter teams, now must win two straight on the road to survive.
Tatis said the stolen-base sequence that led to him scoring from second in the seventh left him so winded he told teammates he might pass out. He called it part of a "perfect" playoff opener.
The Padres are seeking their first World Series title in franchise history. They last reached the NL Championship Series in 2022.
