The San Diego Padres beat the Chicago Cubs 8-0 in Game 1 of their Wild Card Series on Tuesday night.
The decision to start Matthew Boyd backfired on Craig Counsell, and now his team will need to find a way to keep their season alive with Kevin Gausman on the mound. He was acquired by the Cubs near the trade deadline, and has a 4.83 ERA in nine starts with the team.
In his last start, Gausman injured his shoulder making a diving play to tag out a runner at third base against the Miami Marlins. He is not 100% healthy yet, but will need to be sharp to keep the Cubs' season alive.
"It feels all right, good enough to go out there and give it everything I got,” Gausman said to The Chicago Tribune's Meghan Montemurro. “So that’s what I’m going to do.”
He has allowed three or fewer earned runs in six of his nine starts with the Cubs, but he has been inconsistent. Sometimes he goes deep into the game, and other times he runs into trouble early. When he's bad, he's really bad, and things snowball on him.
Gausman has made one start against the Padres this season, but it came with the Toronto Blue Jays. He had a quality start, allowing three earned runs in six innings of work. He struck out eight batters in that game as well. Michael King was dominant for the Padres on Tuesday night, and the Cubs will be hoping for Gausman to deliver his own gem on Wednesday.