Game 3 of Cubs vs Padres Gets New Start Time

The Chicago Cubs are heading into Game 3 of the National League Wild Card Series against the San Diego Padres with the series tied 1-1. This has been an exciting matchup so far between two very good teams, and it will all come down to Thursday to see who moves on to face the Milwaukee Brewers.

To start the series, the Cubs were able to get off to a strong start and set the tone. After a solid 4.1 innings from Matthew Boyd, Chicago utilized their talented bullpen to go the rest of the way and the unit delivered, not allowing a run over 4.2 innings pitched.

The offense was able to generate three runs in the win, which was plenty thanks to a couple of solo home runs and a strong game from Nico Hoerner. Unfortunately, with a chance to end the series on Wednesday, the Padres came out strong, grabbing an early lead and never looking back.

Chicago’s offense was shutout in Game 2 of the series, and despite the pitching staff doing well and only allowing three runs, this series has clearly been a battle between two very good bullpens.

New Start Time

Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jameson Taillon — Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Due to the Los Angeles Dodgers winning their game against the Cincinnati Reds, the start time for Game 3 has been pushed back from 2 p.m. CST / 3 p.m. EST to 4 p.m. CST / 5 p.m. EST to help spread out the three games scheduled for Thursday.

With the season on the line for both the Cubs and the Padres in this one, it will be all hands on deck. The starting pitchers for the matchup are scheduled to be Yu Darvish and Jameson Taillon, but this game will likely come down to the bullpens once again.

Thursday marks the second time in baseball history there will be three winner-takes-all playoff games in one day.

Tigers at Guardians (Flaherty vs. Cecconi), 3 p.m., ABC

Padres at Cubs (Darvish vs. Taillon), 5 p.m., ESPN

Red Sox at Yankees (Early vs. Schlittler), 8 p.m., ESPN
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 2, 2025

Offensive production has been hard to come by in the series so far, and that is an area that Chicago figures to have a bit of an edge in. Even though they were shutout in Game 2, this is a unit that has a lot of talent and depth.

Ideally, the Cubs are going to need to get to Darvish early in this one if they are going to get a victory. San Diego’s bullpen has been one of the best in baseball and they have shown that so far in this series. Based on the first couple of games, three runs might be enough for either team to punch their ticket to the NLDS against the Brewers.

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