Chicago Cubs vs. San Diego Padres preview, Wednesday 4/26, 6:40 CT

Wednesday notes...

• BLANKING THE PADRES: The Cubs’ shutout victory last night was quite a contrast to what happened when the teams met at Wrigley Field last year. The Padres averaged more than 10 runs per game, outscoring the Cubs, 41-15, while sweeping games. The Cubs have blanked the Padres in 37 of 506 games between the teams since the Padres joined the National League in 1969. Twenty of the 37 shutouts have come at home, but only five since the start of 1996. The previous four were by 4-0 in 2008, 1-0 in 2011, 6-0 in 2014 and 4-0 in 2017. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• THE GOMES MACHINE: Yan Gomes, last eight games since April 11: .441/.457/.794 (15-for-34) with four home runs, nine runs scored and only two strikeouts.
• THE STARTERS: Cubs starting pitchers have posted a 3.09 ERA so far this year (40 earned runs in 116⅔ innings), which ranks second in the National League behind the Braves, and fourth in MLB (also behind the Rays and Twins).
• HITTING WHEN IT COUNTS: The Cubs lead MLB with a .221 BA with two strikes in the count (93-for-420). Their .300 OBP and .364 SLG also lead MLB in that situation.

Here are today’s particulars.

Cubs lineup:

Padres lineup:

Drew Smyly, LHP vs. Michael Wacha, RHP

Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Drew Smyly got off to a rough start this year, but has been significantly better since, including his near-perfect game last Friday against the Dodgers. Last three starts: 0.98 ERA, 0.545 WHIP, 20 strikeouts in 18⅓ innings.

Smyly did not face the Padres last year, and current Padres are batting .196 (19-for-96) against him. Only Manny Machado (6-for-18, .333) is hitting him reasonably well.

Hello, old Cardinals friend Michael Wacha! Wacha has been on an odyssey since he left St. Louis — Mets, Rays, Red Sox and Padres over the last four years. He’s been hit pretty hard so far this year — 7.08 ERA, 1.721 WHIP.

He hasn’t faced the Cubs since he was a Cardinal, in 2019, so most current Cubs have not faced him. Ian Happ is 4-for-11 with three home runs off Wacha.

Statcast

Statcast

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. Here’s a list of providers currently carrying Marquee. It’s also on MLB Network (outside the Cubs and Padres market territories).

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Padres site Gaslamp Ball. If you do go there to interact with Padres fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

The 2023 Game Thread procedure will be like last year’s, similar to what we’ve used for Spring Training.

You’ll find the game preview posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).

At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game, including the First Pitch Thread and the overflow thread, as well as the recap when it’s published. The recap will also live on the front page as a separate post.

You will also be able to find the preview, First Pitch Thread and the overflow thread in the box marked “Chicago Cubs Game Threads” at the bottom of the front page (you can also find them in this section link). The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

The First Pitch thread will post at five minutes before game time, then an overflow thread at 90 minutes after the scheduled game time.

Discuss amongst yourselves.