San Diego Padres vs Chicago Cubs Picks and Prediction for Tuesday September 30 2025

By: Eddie Kline Published 09/30/2025, 12:24 AM ET

Padres Preview

Historic Wrigley Field will play host to a Tuesday afternoon NL Wild Card battle between the San Diego Padres and the Chicago Cubs. Be ready for the baseball season with all of our MLB predictions. The fourth-seeded Padres (90-72) closed the regular season with a three-game sweep versus Arizona by a 24-9 combined score. Dynamic OF Fernando Tatis Jr. led the Padres with a ,368 OBP to go along with 25 home runs and 32 stolen bases. Seven-time All-Star Manny Machado paced San Diego with 27 home runs and 95 RBIs.

Thirty-two year old righty Nick Pivetta (13-5 2.87 ERA) will take the mound for the Padres in the series opener. Through 181 plus innings, Pivetta has retired 180 batters by strikes and ranks fifth in the majors with a 0.99 WHIP.

Cubs Preview

The Chicago Cubs have qualified for the postseason in five of the last ten years and are in search of their first World Series title since 2016. The fifth-seeded Cubs (92-70) swept rival St. Louis on the final weekend of the regular season by a 21-4 combined score and won 58 of 81 home games.

Chicago manager Craig Counsell will give the nod to first time All-Star Matthew Boyd (14-8 3.21 ERA) on Tuesday. The Cubs have won Boyd’s previous three starts and he has given up ten runs across his last 13 plus frames. Six Chicago players crushed at least 20 home runs and leadoff hitter Michael Busch had a breakthrough 2025 campaign with 34 long balls.

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Padres vs Cubs Pick

San Diego OF Ramon Laureano suffered a fractured finger and will not be able to play in this series. Through 162 games, San Diego ranks 16th in OPS and 18th in runs scored. For the season, Chicago ranks 7th in OPS and 5th in runs scored. Take the Padres to win on the road. Final Score Prediction, San Diego Padres win 4-3.