So what’s so great about this Padres team, anyway?
They came to Chicago with the best record in the National League, winners of 16 of their last 20 games, and were facing a pitcher who had not thrown a big-league pitch since 2019.
And all the Cubs did was demolish them with five home runs and outstanding pitching from that pitcher, Kohl Stewart, winning the first of a three-game series 7-2.
The Padres scored first, in the second inning, thanks in part to a throwing error by Javier Baez. Stewart got out of a jam with a double-play ball and then Javy got to making up for that miscue in the third inning.