Suzuki's walk-off single hands Padres third straight loss

CHICAGO — They don't call it the Windy City for nothing. Powerful gusts turned Monday night's matchup into a game of inches, and it resulted in Seiya Suzuki delivering a walk-off hit to give the Chicago Cubs a 3-2 victory over the San Diego Padres at Wrigley Field. 

Moments before Suzuki's walk-off winner handed San Diego its third consecutive loss, a defensive replacement nearly single-handily forced extra innings.

With the bases loaded and nobody out against flamethrowing closer Mason Miller, Cubs first baseman Michael Busch lofted a shallow fly ball to left fielder Jase Bowen, who took over for Samad Taylor to begin the frame. Dansby Swanson tested Bowen's arm, tagging from third in an attempt to score the winning run. Bowen fired a perfect one-hop strike to catcher Freddy Fermin, who applied the tag and kept the game alive.

Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images

Jun 29, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson (7) is tagged out at home plate against San Diego Padres catcher Freddy Fermin (54) during the ninth inning at Wrigley Field.

With two outs and momentum suddenly swinging towards San Diego's dugout, Miller needed one more out to escape the jam.

Suzuki had other plans.

After missing with a first-pitch slider, Miller went back to the pitch in an effort to even the count. The right-hander, arguably the most electrifying reliever in baseball, left the 88 mph breaking ball over the heart of the plate, and Suzuki sent a towering drive toward left field.

Searching for a second straight highlight-reel play, Bowen raced back to the ivy-covered wall and leaped in an attempt to rob Suzuki of a dramatic walk-off hit. His acrobatic effort came up just short, sending the North Side crowd into a frenzy and giving Chicago an MLB-best 10th walk-off win of the season.

"Unfortunately the wind was blowing out and probably blew that ball a few feet," Stammen said postgame. "In the end, we end up losing a close ballgame."

The wind wasn't the only factor in San Diego's defeat. Despite several opportunities on a sweltering night in the Midwest, the Padres' offense failed to deliver in key moments, going just 3-for-13 (.231) with runners in scoring position.

"We had opportunities to score more than one run in those spots with two-outs and we just weren't able to get it done tonight," Stammen said.

Despite owning the majors' best run differential (+45) in the eighth inning or later entering Monday, San Diego couldn't survive a ninth inning that started with three soft singles and ended with Suzuki's walk-off drive just beyond the reach of Bowen's glove.

Griffin Canning made his ninth start of the season for San Diego, surrendering two runs on five hits across 4.1 innings while striking out three. The start marked significant improvement from Tuesday's rough outing, when the right-hander failed to record a full inning in Tuesday's 7-6 victory over the Atlanta Braves.

"I saw a lot of off-speed stuff for strikes, and [he] mixed in his fastball," Stammen said. "He kept executing pitches."

San Diego jumped out to a 2-0 lead after scoring a run in the third and fourth against Chicago left-hander starter Shota Imanaga. The Padres had a chance to extend the lead with two runners in scoring position with less than two outs, however, the bottom two in the lineup (Fermin, Cronenworth) were unable to create   breathing room for the San Diego pitching staff. 

Fermin would see another chance to come through in a clutch situation, batting with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth with the game tied. Caleb Thielbar got the catcher to pop up an 0-2 curveball to Nico Hoerner, ending the threat. 

The loss marked the fourth time this season that San Diego has dropped three consecutive games, with its longest skid lasting six games from May 30 to June 5.

San Diego will look to even the series on Tuesday as LHP JP Sears (1-0, 3.18 ERA) takes the mound for the Padres and will be countered by fellow southpaw Matthew Boyd (2-1, 5.02 ERA) for Chicago.