Cubs Head to San Diego for Wild Card Rematch With Padres

The Chicago Cubs now have a date and a destination for the start of their postseason. The team will travel to San Diego for a best-of-three National League Wild Card Series against the Padres, a rematch of last year's Wild Card round.

San Diego claimed the No. 4 seed in the National League, which gives the Padres home field for every game in the series. Game 1 is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 9 p.m. Central, and Game 2 follows at the same time on Wednesday, Sept. 30. Both games are set to air on Peacock and NBCSN.

If the teams split the first two games, a deciding Game 3 would be played Thursday, Oct. 1 in San Diego, with a start time still to be announced. The winner moves on to the National League Division Series, which begins Saturday, Oct. 3.

The Cubs won last year's matchup with the Padres at Wrigley Field and went 5-1 against San Diego during the 2026 regular season. Center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong enters the series as the centerpiece of the lineup after a season in which he led the majors in WAR, home runs and runs scored.