Michael Busch homered to lead off the ninth inning, lifting the host Chicago Cubs to a walk-off, 3-2 victory over the San Diego Padres on Tuesday.
Busch deposited a first-pitch fastball from Enyel De Los Santos (1-2) over the wall in right-center field. The homer was Busch’s seventh of the season and first since he went deep in five straight games from April 10-15.
The blast made a winner out of Hector Neris (2-0), who overcame a single and a walk to record a scoreless top of the ninth.
Chicago’s Cody Bellinger homered to lead off the fourth and singled in the sixth and eighth innings to highlight his return from the injured list. He had been sidelined with a rib ailment since hitting the wall at Wrigley Field on April 23.
Christopher Morel contributed a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning for the Cubs, who have won three of their past four games.
Jurickson Profar belted a two-run homer while Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jose Azocar had two hits apiece, but the Padres fell for the second time in three games. Jake Cronenworth reached on a sixth-inning single to extend his hitting streak to 11 games.
Holding a 1-0 lead, Chicago starter Shota Imanaga breezed through the first seven innings before running into trouble in the eighth. Luis Arraez hit an infield single before Profar launched a 2-2 splitter over the wall in center field for his sixth homer of the season and second in four games.
The Cubs forged a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the inning when Morel’s sacrifice fly to center field scored Mike Tauchman. Morel knocked in a run for the sixth straight game.
Bellinger rebounded from a 12-pitch at-bat that ended with a flyout in the first inning by opening the scoring in the fourth.
He deposited a 3-2 changeup from Randy Vasquez over the wall in right-center field. The homer was the sixth of the season for Bellinger, who has driven in a run in the past seven games in which he has played.
Vasquez pitched 4 1/3 innings of one-run ball, fanning six. Imanaga yielded two runs and struck out eight in seven-plus innings.
–Field Level Media
