Good way to end the season series with the Chicago Cubs tied 3-3 as you never know how important this can be at the end of the season and making the playoffs. It’s always funny how the MLB schedule is to where you face a team twice in the first month and then don’t see them again until possibly the playoffs.

It was only two years ago when the Padres finished two games out of the playoffs (don’t get me wrong that 2023 team had a whole bunch of other problems) and finished 6-7 against Arizona that year, including losing 3 out of 4 in August to end the season series, as well as 3-4 against the Cubs, both teams with better records than them that year (Arizona would get the final playoff spot). So their path to the playoffs was even more difficult since they lost the season series to the two teams right above them as they tried making the late run.

So when it comes down to the end and playoff tiebreakers, with the 4-2 win today over the Cubs, the Padres won’t lose that tiebreaker if they happen to be in the playoff hunt and finish tied with the Cubs. I know it’s way early but that’s where these types of games count.

That’s why it doesn’t make sense to me with having Manny and Xander bat 3-4 even if it’s a lefty starting pitcher on the mound as Mike Shildt continues to do last night and today. Yesterday’s 2-1 loss was a golden opportunity to win considering Shota Imanaga was on the mound for the Cubs and the Padres pitching was able to go toe to toe for 9 innings. Not many times where you can win a low-scoring game against their ace pitcher, so it compounds it when you have Manny and Xander come up with the bases loaded and 1 out and end up getting no runs like what happened in the bottom of the third. If one of them comes through (or someone else batting in the lineup between them), the game may break wide open like what happened in Shota’s last start against the Rangers where he goes only 76 pitches in 5 innings giving up 5 earned runs.

And then there’s the relievers he keeps using in situations that aren’t the best. I figured the way he’s been using Wandy Peralta and Yuki Matsui earlier this season where the team had comfortable leads, was way behind or when it’s earlier in the game like the 5th or 6th inning would be how he would continue to use them based on their track record last year. There’s a big need in those situations (we can only remember Enyel De Los Santos last year and how often he would blow big leads or make the deficit even larger) but the past two days have left me scratching my head.

Yesterday putting Matsui in the 10th inning with the ghost runner on, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who had a bad feeling about it. Credit to Matsui for getting out of the inning with just the one unearned run after he gave up the leadoff triple to Nico Hoerner to score the ghost runner and then getting the next three guys out (short flyout and two strikeouts) but the damage was already done.

And then today he pulled Pivetta after 91 pitches and 6 innings, going to Estrada in the 7th which is par for the course in a close game with the bullpen. However in the 8th with Jason Adam down today (understandably after going the past two days), he went to Wandy with a 3-1 lead after the Padres added on one run in the bottom of the 7th and again I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who was a little worried. Wandy proceeds to give up a home run to Pete Crow-Armstrong to make 3-2 and then give up a 2 out double to Ian Happ bringing red hot Kyle Tucker up to bat as the go ahead run. He did end up striking out Tucker but way too close for comfort.

Shildt does get the most out of his team (feels like the team would run through a wall for him like the St. Louis Cardinals postgame speech) so I’m sure that’s part of it. But when you see the same guys not coming through in the same situations over and over again, at some point you have to realize that’s not the best situation for them.