Padres vs Cubs Recap: Cubs explode to 23-3 win

The Chicago Cubs hosted the San Diego Padres at Wrigley Field on Wednesday in a game that got out of hand fast. After a close 2-3 loss the night before, the Padres came looking for payback. But the Cubs had other plans. Walker Buehler took the mound for San Diego, and he was in trouble from the start. Seiya Suzuki ripped an 81 mph sweeper into center field for a three-run homer. The ball sailed 426 feet while Crow-Armstrong and Bregman crossed the plate. Just like that, Chicago led 3-0 before the Padres could blink. The Cubs kept pounding. Dansby Swanson smashed an 83 mph slider over the left field wall in the second inning. One swing, one run. The Cubs were rolling.

The damage kept coming. In the third inning, Miguel Amaya singled to center and two runs scored. Then Dansby Swanson stepped up again and launched a 434-foot bomb into center field. Conforto and Amaya crossed the plate on that blast. The Cubs had 9 runs and we weren't even halfway through. The Padres scratched out a couple late—Sung-Mun Song crushed a 385-foot homer in the fifth to make it 1-9. Ty France doubled and brought home Machado, pushing it to 2-9. But nothing mattered. In the fifth inning, Michael Conforto went deep with a 433-foot shot to center. Then Pete Crow-Armstrong followed with a 390-foot bomb to right. The Cubs were unstoppable. Chicago led 13-2 and kept swinging hard.

The Cubs weren't done yet. In the eighth inning, the Padres got Miguel Andujar on the board with a single to right. Samad Taylor scored to make it 3-15. But then Rodolfo Duran took over pitching for San Diego and the floodgates opened. Kevin Alcantara singled to left with Busch scoring. Conforto singled to right with Suzuki crossing the plate. Miguel Amaya singled to right, driving in another run. Then came the finishing blow. Dansby Swanson crushed a 387-foot homer to left-center, clearing the bases with one swing. That made it 3-22. Michael Busch added one more with a 412-foot shot to right-center to close out the eighth. Final score: Cubs 23, Padres 3. Chicago's bats were on fire. San Diego fell to 43-43. The Cubs improved to 49-38.