San Diego Padres reveal Game 1 lineup vs. Chicago Cubs to open MLB Playoffs

The Padres didn’t overthink it. With first pitch set for 12:08 PT on ABC at a charged-up Wrigley Field, San Diego is leaning into its identity: star power at the top, relentless contact early, and enough thump in the middle to tilt a best-of-three. Game 1 is a tone-setter by definition, but this particular opener carries an extra edge — a day game in the ivy, and the kind of environment where one crisp inning can swing the series. 

Chicago hands the ball to All-Star lefty Matthew Boyd (14–8, 3.21 ERA), who rode a dominant first half into September. The Padres counter with their steadiest arm of 2025, Nick Pivetta (13–5, 2.87), who gives manager Mike Shildt the flexibility to attack an aggressive Cubs lineup before turning things over to leverage arms. 

San Diego Padres lock in Game 1 lineup vs. Chicago Cubs for MLB Playoffs

San Diego’s Game 1 lineup card look is exactly what you’d expect: Fernando Tatis Jr. setting the table, Luis Arraez in the two-spot to keep the bat-to-ball pressure on, then Manny Machado, Jackson Merrill, and Xander Bogaerts forming a dangerous spine in the middle. Without Ramón Laureano (fractured right index finger), the Padres turn to Gavin Sheets in left, with Ryan O’Hearn at DH and Jake Cronenworth at second. 

Yes, Boyd’s a southpaw and, yes, San Diego is rolling out a lefty-heavy run from spots 6–8 (Sheets, O’Hearn, Cronenworth). That’s a fair worry on paper, but it’s also October, where pitch counts and pockets matter more than handedness dogma. The early assignment is simple: make Boyd work, stack traffic for the right-handed anchors (Tatis, Machado, Bogaerts), and force Craig Counsell to play the matchup carousel by the fifth or sixth. Chicago’s relief corps has been excellent since the trade deadline (sixth in WAR) — better than many realize, so this isn’t about hoping for a bullpen game; it’s about controlling the bullpen game and choosing the matchups that favor San Diego’s contact-plus approach. 

Run prevention is the blueprint. Pivetta starts, and Shildt rolls to Robert Suarez, Adrian Morejón, and Mason Miller as the situation demands. That kind of depth invites urgency — pull fast, win the matchups, and stitch together 27 outs with the right arm at the right time.

This lineup says the Padres are going to be themselves — attack early, let the middle breathe, trust the run prevention, and dare the Cubs to keep up in a chess match of matchups. It’s not complicated. It’s October. And for San Diego, Game 1 at Wrigley is a chance to seize rhythm and never give it back. 

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