Dansby Swanson homers twice, Cubs outslug Padres
Dansby Swanson led a long-ball barrage with two home runs and the host Chicago Cubs held on for a 9-7 win over the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night.
Alex Bregman hit a three-run shot and Michael Busch and Pete Crow-Armstrong had solo homers for the Cubs, who won their fourth straight.
Fernando Tatis Jr. hit two home runs and Manny Machado and Gavin Sheets also homered for the Padres, who have lost four in a row.
Winner Matthew Boyd (3-1) allowed three runs and eight hits over five-plus innings. He did not walk a batter and struck out two.
Ryan Rolison recorded the last out to earn his first career save.
San Diego starter JP Sears (1-1) gave up seven runs (six earned) and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings. He walked three and struck out four.
Tatis led off the game with his first home run, but the Cubs equalized on Carson Kelly's RBI single in the bottom of the first.
Swanson's one-out blast in the second inning, a 432-foot shot deep into the center field stands, gave Chicago a 2-1 lead. The next two batters reached, and Bregman then drove Sears' 2-0 cutter over the left-center-field fence.
Machado's opposite-field two-run shot down the right field line with two outs in the top of the third cut the Padres' deficit to 5-3.
Two Chicago long balls in the fifth extended the lead to 8-3.
Busch's 10th homer made it 6-3. Swanson's second of the game and 13th of the year just missed the scoreboard above the stands in left center, producing a five-run lead.
Crow-Armstrong's homer in the sixth made it 9-3. It was his 18th of the season and 11th of the month.
Sheets' three-run homer and Tatis' second solo shot of the game in the eighth pulled the Padres within 9-7.
--Field Level Media