The Chicago Cubs put a beatdown on the San Diego Padres, sweeping them at Wrigley Field as the offense was fueled by a franchise-record eight home runs en route to a 23-3 thrashing. Dansby Swanson led the way by hitting three home runs, including a grand slam in the eighth inning, when the Padres had waved the white flag and had a position player pitching.
Swanson has been on fire, and that’s honestly putting it lightly because the shortstop has now hit nine home runs in his last 13 games. That includes three multi-homer games and two in a row against the Padres, who were outscored 35-12 at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs’ home run derby began in the first inning, when Seiya Suzuki crushed a three-run homer against Walker Buehler. It was Suzuki’s 100th career home run with the Cubs, making him the fourth Japanese-born player to reach the century mark in home runs in MLB history.
Swanson’s first two home runs were also against Buehler, a solo shot in the second and then yet another bomb, 434 feet to center field in the third inning. Again, this turnaround by Swanson has been crazy, considering he went 43 games without a home run and was briefly benched for a mental reset in early June. Now, he’s on pace to hit more than 30 home runs, and Swanson currently leads the Cubs with 57 RBI, which is also ranked 10th among all hitters in baseball.
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Lost in Swanson’s big day was Michael Conforto, who also hit two home runs. They sandwiched Pete Crow-Armstrong’s 19th home run of the year, which came against left-handed reliever Kyle Hart. And before you think these home runs in a blowout game come without merit, Hart had not given up a single home run all season.
The Padres essentially gave up by the time the bottom of the eighth inning came around, putting in catcher Rodolfo Durán on the mound. Swanson hit a grand slam, and Michael Busch tied a Cubs team record by hitting the eighth home run of the game against the position player.
What an insane ride it’s been following the 2026 Chicago Cubs. We’re talking about a team that had the best offense in the game for a month, only to become the worst for the next. Now? It is hot as hell at Wrigley Field, the ball is flying out, and the Cubs are once again looking like a dangerous team in the National League. The pitching staff is hanging on by a thread, but at least there are positive signs in the bullpen, and you would have to think that this recent run will give the front office enough of a push to make a serious effort to get help for the starting rotation at the trade deadline.
