Musgrove Makes MLB History in Padres' 8-0 Wild Card Game 1 Shutout of Cubs
Joe Musgrove made baseball history on Tuesday night as the San Diego Padres blanked the Chicago Cubs 8-0 in Game 1 of the National League Wild Card Series at Petco Park, taking a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.
Musgrove, 33, pitched a scoreless ninth inning — working around two hits and a walk, and stranding the bases loaded by striking out Michael Conforto — in his first appearance since Game 2 of the 2024 Wild Card Series after undergoing Tommy John elbow surgery in October 2024. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he is the first player ever to appear in sequential postseason games in different seasons with no regular-season games in between; the only previous player to return to the playoffs after missing two straight regular seasons was Cubs catcher Clyde McCullough, who lost the 1944–45 seasons to military service and returned for the 1945 World Series.
King dominates, bats erupt early
Starter Michael King was masterful, throwing seven scoreless innings and allowing just one hit — carrying a no-hit bid into the seventh before Nico Hoerner's two-out single ended it. King struck out eight and became the first pitcher to take a no-hitter into the seventh inning of a postseason game since Merrill Kelly in 2023.
The Padres gave him plenty of support. Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning, Xander Bogaerts added a solo shot in the fourth, and Jackson Merrill drove in two more in the fifth.
The eight-run shutout was the largest margin of victory in a shutout in Padres postseason history, before a crowd of 47,048. King (1-0) earned the win; Chicago starter Matthew Boyd (0-1) took the loss.
Sources: Sports Illustrated, NBC Sports
Joe Musgrove made baseball history on Tuesday night as the San Diego Padres blanked the Chicago Cubs 8-0 in Game 1 of the National League Wild Card Series at Petco Park, taking a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.
Musgrove, 33, pitched a scoreless ninth inning — working around two hits and a walk, and stranding the bases loaded by striking out Michael Conforto — in his first appearance since Game 2 of the 2024 Wild Card Series after undergoing Tommy John elbow surgery in October 2024. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he is the first player ever to appear in sequential postseason games in different seasons with no regular-season games in between; the only previous player to return to the playoffs after missing two straight regular seasons was Cubs catcher Clyde McCullough, who lost the 1944–45 seasons to military service and returned for the 1945 World Series.
King dominates, bats erupt early
Starter Michael King was masterful, throwing seven scoreless innings and allowing just one hit — carrying a no-hit bid into the seventh before Nico Hoerner's two-out single ended it. King struck out eight and became the first pitcher to take a no-hitter into the seventh inning of a postseason game since Merrill Kelly in 2023.
The Padres gave him plenty of support. Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning, Xander Bogaerts added a solo shot in the fourth, and Jackson Merrill drove in two more in the fifth.
The eight-run shutout was the largest margin of victory in a shutout in Padres postseason history, before a crowd of 47,048. King (1-0) earned the win; Chicago starter Matthew Boyd (0-1) took the loss.
Sources: Sports Illustrated, NBC Sports
