What history says about Padres' chances in 2025 NL Wild Card round vs. Cubs

The San Diego Padres are postseason bound. As the No. 5 seed in the National League, they will face the Chicago Cubs, beginning Tuesday, Sept. 30 from Wrigley Field. This will be the Friars' first time facing the Cubs in the postseason since 1984.

So, how did that series pan out for San Diego? And, can we take anything away from that series and apply it to the 2025 MLB playoffs? We absolutely can.

Padres' history vs. Cubs in postseason could bode well for San Diego in 2025 MLB playoffs

Sprinkled in with some all-time great Padres, San Diego won the NL West division with a 92-70 record. They faced the Cubs in a best-of-5 series in the NLCS, which did not start off well for San Diego.

The Friars lost the first two games of the series at the hands of Rick Sutcliffe (7 IP, 0 R) and Steve Trout (8.1 IP, 2 R) throwing gems for Chicago. But the Padres dug deep and won three games in a row with their backs against the wall to take down the Cubs in five games, leading to their first-ever World Series appearance.

In Game 3, Ed Whitson answered the bell with eight innings of one-run ball, while the offense scored seven runs in the fifth and sixth innings to defeat Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley.

In Game 4, Steve Garvey hit one of the greatest home runs in San Diego history. Off of Hall of Famer Lee Smith, he belted a two-run home run, scoring Tony Gwynn to even the series, 2-2.

Then finally in Game 5, the Padres didn't let Sutcliffe get the best of them again. He was bounced after allowing five earned runs. Craig Lefferts got his second win of the series behind two scoreless relief innings.

For the series, Gwynn batted .368 with three doubles, three RBIs, and six runs scored. Garvey was a .400 hitter behind seven RBIs. Alan Wiggins, in his first playoff series, had six hits in five games. Kevin McReynolds added a home run and four RBIs in the series, while Garry Templeton had five hits.

The Padres wound up losing in five games to the Detroit Tigers in the World Series, but a lesson was learned in the NLCS. The Padres were more than capable of surmounting a hefty 2-0 deficit to come back and win, regardless of how good the Cubs' pitching can be. Chicago's current bullpen is loaded with guys who have an ERA in the 2.00 range, but history says that San Diego can get by them.

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