MLB Baseball
2025-10-01 - San Diego Padres at Chicago Cubs
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States : MLB Baseball Playoff Wild Card Game 2
Wednesday 1st October 2025 - Scheduled 3:08pm
8:08pm (British Time)
Preview
If he thought the fans of his former team have been unforgiving in the regular season, Manager Craig Counsell could be in for an intimidating reception for himself and his team if the Chicago Cubs can win one more game in this Wild Card Series against the San Diego Padres.
No one in Chicago will be thinking too far ahead.
They have not won any Playoff Series since 2017, the year after winning the World Series, while Craig Counsell's recent personal record in Playoff Games has been pretty poor considering the reputation he holds in the Major League. Before winning Game 1, Counsell led teams had lost nine of ten Playoff Games and so there are a couple of narratives that will need to be changed before the Cubs can even think about the Divisional Round Series with the Milwaukee Brewers.
Overlooking the San Diego Padres would be a mistake and the road team will turn to Dylan Cease to try and get back on track having blown an early lead in the 3-1 defeat on Tuesday.
Dylan Cease finished the regular season with an 8-12 record and 4.55 ERA, but those numbers were 2-1 and a 3.12 ERA in five starts made in September. The Padres will be hoping that the previous Playoff experience also aids Cease, but this is a much respected bullpen and San Diego will not hesitate to turn to them if the starter struggles.
In the one start against the Chicago Cubs this season, Dylan Cease allowed two earned runs when pitching to one out of completing 6 Innings, although he did not factor into the decision.
The pitcher will want to offer a much stronger showing in this post-season having thrown 5 Innings across two starts twelve months ago against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Dylan Cease allowed eight runs in that time on the mound and that proved to set the table for two losses, although the decision loss was only handed to the pitcher in one of those starts.
A decision has been made by the Chicago Cubs to open with Andrew Kittredge, who has not started a regular season game since 2021 and who has been used as reliever in Playoff appearances. That includes throwing a single Inning on Tuesday in Game 1 when picking up a single Strikeout and keeping the San Diego Padres off of the board.
Most are anticipating that he will be lifted after the First Inning and replaced by Shota Imanaga, who was the expected Game 2 starter.
It has been a more difficult second season in the Major League for Shota Imanaga and he gave up eight runs in his last regular season start. He finished the regular season with a 1-2 record and 5.97 ERA from the final six starts, but Imanaga allowed one earned run in over 12 Innings thrown against the San Diego Padres and that should give the home team some confidence.
At this stage of the season, the Cubs will not want to waste time with Shota Imanaga if his struggles continue and especially not after the bullpen impressed as much as they did in Game 1. They also have a couple of starters ready to go through multiple Innings in relief if needed as Chicago look to move on without needing to play another game in the Wild Card Series.
Prediction
This looked a very strong Wild Card Series when the pairings were made official, but it is the Chicago Cubs who have moved ahead.
There was a belief that the Padres had a much stronger bullpen, but the Cubs showed they have rebuilt a strong relieving unit of their own.
Dylan Cease ended the regular season looking pretty strong, but his Playoff experiences have not been the best and the Cubs may be able to make a strong enough start to hold onto another lead late in this one.
The Pick :
Chicago Cubs 4-3 San Diego Padres
