Suzuki walk-off off Mason Miller lifts Cubs past Padres 3-2
Seiya Suzuki hit a game-ending single off Padres closer Mason Miller in the ninth inning Monday night, giving the Chicago Cubs a 3-2 walk-off win over San Diego at Wrigley Field. It was his second career walk-off hit and Chicago's major-league-leading 10th this season. The rally also helped Alex Bregman bounce back from a viral hustle gaffe one day earlier.
Key Takeaways
- Suzuki's deep fly off Mason Miller scored Pete Crow-Armstrong and ended a tense 3-2 Cubs win on Monday night.
- The rally began with three straight singles from Dansby Swanson, Crow-Armstrong and Bregman after Jason Adam allowed the first two.
- Jase Bowen nearly saved San Diego with a leaping catch at the ivy-covered wall, but the ball dropped for the walk-off single.
- Bregman had two hits after going viral for not running hard enough on a bobbled grounder Sunday in Milwaukee.
- The Padres finished 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position while sitting a half-game out of the final NL wild-card spot.
How did Mason Miller lose the game for the Padres?
Dansby Swanson and Pete Crow-Armstrong opened the ninth with singles off Jason Adam, who had entered trying to protect a tie. San Diego then turned to Mason Miller with two on and nobody out, and the closer surrendered Alex Bregman's single to center, loading the bases.
Michael Busch followed with a shallow fly to left. Swanson tagged and tried to score, but Bowen threw him out at the plate for a double play. Miller had two outs — but not the third.
Suzuki drove a deep fly toward the ivy-covered wall. Bowen leaped but could not haul it in, Crow-Armstrong scored from second, and Wrigley erupted. As CBS Chicago reported, it was Chicago's 10th walk-off of 2026, the most in MLB.
Why did the ivy at Wrigley Field matter?
Monday's game unfolded as an unlikely pitchers' duel on a sweltering night with wind blowing out, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. Starters Shota Imanaga and Griffin Canning both kept the game close despite shaky recent track records.
The ivy played a role all night. Miguel Andujar doubled when a line drive disappeared into the ivy in the third. Samad Taylor also misjudged a wind-blown Suzuki fly that became a leadoff double in the fourth — a run San Diego could not afford to surrender.
Without that tying run, Miller might have entered the ninth protecting a 2-1 lead instead of a 2-2 deadlock. Adam took the loss after yielding the first two singles, and Miller got two outs but could not finish.
Was Alex Bregman bouncing back from his viral hustle moment?
The walk-off arrived one night after Bregman went viral for failing to run full speed on a bobbled grounder Sunday against Milwaukee. Analyst Jim Deshaies said on replay that Bregman needed to hustle harder down the line.
Asked Monday whether he wished he had run harder, Bregman told reporters yes — but added he has suffered 10 soft-tissue injuries sprinting to first. The $175 million third baseman entered Monday ranked 11th on the Cubs in OPS with career-low numbers.
He answered with two hits, including the ninth-inning single that set up Suzuki's winner — the kind of bizarre, buzzy sports moment that has defined Chicago's uneven 2026 season.
What does the loss mean for San Diego's playoff push?
The Padres built a 2-0 lead on Fernando Tatis Jr.'s RBI grounder and Xander Bogaerts' double, but Chicago tied it on Michael Conforto's single and Suzuki's sacrifice fly. Imanaga allowed two earned runs over 6⅓ innings with no walks.
San Diego's problems ran deeper than Miller's final pitch. The Padres reached base with their leadoff hitter in five innings but scored only twice, finishing 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
Entering the day a half-game out of the final NL wild-card spot and 1½ games behind Chicago, San Diego left Wrigley with a painful loss — a win that slipped past Bowen's glove and into the ivy.