October can be corrective. Twenty-four hours after a flat, chance-killing opener, San Diego walked into Wrigley with urgency you could feel through the broadcast. Mike Shildt’s message was simple: don’t let the Cubs off the hook twice. The Padres answered with their most adult game of the season — clean, composed, and built around their best players doing exactly what they’re paid to do. The result was a defining 3–0 win that dragged the NL Wild Card Series to a winner-take-all Game 3.
It all started where you should have, at the very top of the lineup.