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Padres sweep Cubs and head to Milwaukee for Saturday’s NLDS opener

San Diego beat Chicago 4-1 Wednesday to complete a two-game Wild Card sweep and set up a National League Division Series against the Brewers in Milwaukee. The Cubs’ high-scoring offense managed only eight hits across the series.

Padres sweep Cubs and head to Milwaukee for Saturday’s NLDS opener
The San Diego Padres advanced to the National League Division Series with a 4-1 win over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night, completing a two-game sweep and booking a trip to Milwaukee to face the Brewers. Pinch-hitter Gavin Sheets gave San Diego a late lift with a two-run home run, while five Padres pitchers combined to limit Chicago to five hits in Game 2 at Petco Park. Xander Bogaerts drove in the Padres’ first run, and catcher Ethan Salas added an RBI. Salas, who played in the game as a teenager, became the youngest catcher to appear in a postseason game in Major League Baseball history, according to the reported figures. San Diego had shut out Chicago 8-0 in Tuesday’s opener. Across the two games, the Cubs collected eight hits in 18 innings, seven of them singles. That was a sharp contrast with a regular season in which Chicago led the National League in home runs and the majors in runs scored. The Padres will open the best-of-five division series Saturday in Milwaukee against the Brewers, who finished with the best record in baseball. San Diego won four of six regular-season meetings between the teams, including a three-game sweep at Petco Park in August. The result reverses last year’s Wild Card matchup, when the Cubs eliminated San Diego in three games at Wrigley Field. The Padres have now won five postseason series in the past seven years and enter the next round after going 19-3 since Sept. 5.

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