*Photo from the East Village Times*
After a few days, the man they call Fernando is back. Jake Cronenworth drove in two runs, Fernando Tatis Jr had 3 RBI's, and the San Diego Padres defeated the Chicago Cubs 5-3 on Wednesday night in Chicago.
Since being reinstated from a PED suspension, Tatis Jr drove in 3 runs in his 6th game back, which is also his first game action since 2021. He missed the start of 2022 after injuring his wrist in a motorcycle accident and was then popped for PED's on a rehab assignment.
Padres manager Bob Melvin said of Tatis that "I’ve been waiting for him for a year-plus. One of the lures of getting an opportunity to come over here was Fernando Tatis Jr. Finally got him back in the lineup and you know, nights like this shows you why we need him."
After a scoreless 3 innings, Jake Cronenworth tripled in Nelson Cruz and Xander Bogaerts, giving the Padres a 2-0 lead. In the bottom of the 4th, Trey Mancini tied it up for the Cubs with a two run home run. Nico Hoerner singled in Patrick Wisdom in the 5th inning to give the Cubs a 3-2 lead after 5 innings.
In the 7th inning, Tatis got the big hit the Padres needed. He singled to left field with Trent Grisham and Ha-Seong Kim on base, scoring them both to put the Padres ahead by a 4-3 score. In the 9th, Tatis struck again with an insurance run, hitting another RBI single to score Kim and pad the Padres lead to a 5-3 margin.
Tatis said after the game that "Big league pitchers are making big league pitches and when that happens, you tip your cap off. I’m happy that I’m just picking up my singles a day at a time and just getting on base. I feel like in the right moment, I’m going to get hot and big balls are going to start coming out of my bat."
Getting the start for the Padres was Michael Wacha, who got a no decision with 3 runs on 4 hits in 5 innings pitched. Nick Martinez got the win in relief with 3 shutout innings. Josh Hader worked the 9th to pick up his 9th save of the season.
It was Drew Smyly who started for the Cubs, allowing two runs on 4 hits and a walk in 5 innings. Adbert Alzolay allowed one run in one inning, while Brandon Hughes got the loss by allowing one run in 2/3 of an inning. Michael Rucker, Brad Boxberger, and Julian Merryweather also pitched.
Up next, the series concludes on Thursday with the series win on the line. Seth Lugo gets the start for the Padres, while the Cubs go with Hayden Wesneski.
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