Manny Machado homered in the first inning and finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs as the San Diego Padres routed the Chicago Cubs 8-0 in the NL Wild Card Series opener at Petco Park. Fernando Tatis Jr. hit the first pitch for the first leadoff homer in Padres playoff history, and Xander Bogaerts added a fourth-inning homer while Jackson Merrill had a two-run single in the fifth. Michael King struck out eight and carried a no-hitter into the seventh, allowing the Cubs only one hit, an infield single by Nico Hoerner. Machado’s first-inning blast was his franchise-record ninth postseason home run, and his third-inning RBI double scored Tatis from first. Joe Musgrove returned from Tommy John surgery to record the final three outs in the ninth and preserve the shutout. Game 2 is Wednesday night at Petco Park, with Nick Pivetta starting for San Diego; the series winner advances to face the Milwaukee Brewers in the best-of-five division series.
