Dansby Swanson led a long-ball barrage with two home runs and the host Chicago Cubs held on for a 9-7 win over the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night.
Alex Bregman hit a three-run shot and Michael Busch and Pete Crow-Armstrong had solo homers for the Cubs, who won their fourth straight.
Fernando Tatis Jr. hit two home runs and Manny Machado and Gavin Sheets also homered for the Padres, who have lost four in a row.
Winner Matthew Boyd (3-1) allowed three runs and eight hits over five-plus innings. He did not walk a batter and struck out two.
Ryan Rolison recorded the last out to earn his first save.
San Diego starter J.P. Sears (1-1) took the loss after allowing seven runs (six earned) and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings. He walked three and struck out four.
Tatis Jr. led off the game with his first home run for a 1-0 San Diego lead.
Swanson’s one-out blast deep into the centerfield stands, estimated at 432 feet, gave Chicago a 2-1 lead. The next two batters reached and Bregman then drove Sears’ 1-1 cutter over the left-centerfield fence.
Machado’s opposite-field two-run shot down the right-field line with two out in the top of the third cut the Padres’ deficit to 5-3.
But two Cubs’ long balls in the fifth extended the lead to 8-3.
Busch’s 10th homer made it 6-3, and Swanson’s second of the game just missed the scoreboard above the stands in left center, producing a five-run lead.
Crow-Armstrong’s homer in the sixth made it 9-3. It was his 18th of the season and 11th of the month.
Sheets’ three-run homer and Tatis’ second solo shot of the game in the eighth pulled the Padres to within 9-7.
–Field Level Media
