Pitching and defense. That’s often the most reliable recipe for winning a baseball game. In a series where the Cubs offense had a very tough test against the Padres pitching staff, they took care of business on the other side of the ball. In Game 3 of the wild card series, pitching plus defense plus just enough offense equaled a 3-1 win and the first playoff series victory for the Cubs since the 2017 NLDS.

The Cubs got the necessary runs in Game 3 — two on a bases-loaded, no out situation in the second inning and then another in the seventh inning thanks to Michael Busch’s home run — but the defense working in tandem with quality pitching was the difference-maker.

“The defense certainly stands out tonight, especially our middle infielders. Like absolutely some huge plays,” manager Craig Counsell said. “Sometimes in a game that’s so statistically analyzed, just preventing — less pitches for our guys, getting matchups for our guys — I think it makes our bullpen more successful. That’s why teams are so connected because you need that stuff to make everybody affect each other. We played a great defensive game tonight, absolutely.”

Dansby Swanson alone put together several highlight-reel plays at shortstop, like the liner off of Luis Arraez’s bat that he dropped but was still able to gather and make the throw to get Arraez out at first. Or the inning-ending double play in the sixth inning. And Nico Hoerner snagged a line drive in the seventh inning that may have saved a run with Xander Boegarts on second base.

“The defense is our identity, and I would expect nothing less out of Dansby, Nico, [Ian] Happ,” Jameson Taillon said. “Those guys want the ball hit at them, they’re not waiting for something to happen. They want to make the plays.”

Taillon started Game 3 and gave the Cubs four scoreless innings while never really giving the Padres a chance to generate a run-scoring opportunity. He limited them to a second inning single and a fourth inning double and then handed the ball over the the bullpen for the next five frames.

That group, other than a ninth-inning solo shot by Jackson Merrill, leaned on the leather behind them to continue stifling the San Diego offense. Merrill’s home run came off of Brad Keller, who was otherwise mostly untouched and who was one of two Cubs relievers who pitched in multiple innings in Game 3. The other, Daniel Palencia, served as the fifth and sixth inning bridge, a role Counsell used for Palencia multiple times in the wild card series.

Other members of the bullpen, like Andrew Kittredge, have had to be more fungible in their roles. That was a theme in Counsell’s pregame session with the media in the final weekend of the regular season, and Kittredge has thus far served as the prime example of what Counsell means when he says that his pitchers need to be mere “out-getters” who are willing to let go of thinking of themselves as having specific roles. A small but noteworthy example was the fact that Game 1 starter Matt Boyd was up in the bullpen warming to potentially come into the game in the ninth inning on Thursday.

In Kittredge’s case, that meant pitching in all three games of the wild card series, and each time in a different spot. He tossed a scoreless eighth inning in Game 1, served as the opener in Game 2, and when Counsell needed someone for two more outs in Game 3, out came Kittredge.

“That’s not easy to do, and it’s not easy to do in the playoffs,” Taillon said. “Honestly, he’s got the slowest heart beat of anybody. He’s just out there executing pitches and hanging out, so I felt really good when he came in.”

Kittredge has some postseason experience under his belt, in 2021 and 2023 with the Rays, but he said that it’s taken until fairly recently in his career to find the right way to settle himself before a big moment like the final outs of a winner-take-all Game 3.

“Right before a batter stepped in, I was able to soak it in a little bit, and I felt really calm and I just knew I had to attack,” Kittredge said. “I got to breathe. I mean, that hasn’t always been the case. I’ve learned a lot of breathing techniques to try to help me slow my heart rate down, and it helped me with my delivery among other things.

“But the coolest part was being able to feel that moment when I came in. The game seemed slower when I came in, and that’s right where I want to be.”

Though the offense had to grind through a lot of tough at-bats in Game 3 on Thursday, there were signs of life from guys who had been particularly cold in the first two games of the wild card series. Ian Happ, who had amassed six strikeouts in his first nine at-bats of the series, doubled in the fifth inning on Thursday, and Kyle Tucker, who had gone 0-fer in the first two games as well, notched two base hits in Game 3.

And along with those two, and perhaps most notably, Pete Crow-Armstrong collected three hits on Thursday after looking lost at the plate in the first two games of the series. He started with an RBI single in the second inning and then connected for two more base hits in the sixth and eighth innings.

“This is such a great sign for him to hit a line drive the other way,” Dansby Swanson said. “I know it sounds simple, but it can be really tough to do when you’re facing velocity.”

Pitching plus defense…plus run scoring? If the Cubs can add on having an offense that is starting to find a collective groove to the defense and pitching they showcased in Game 3 of the wild card series, then fans in Chicago might want to clear their schedules for the rest of October.

A division series against the Brewers is the next test that waits for the Cubs. As the division winners and one of the top seeds in the National League, Milwaukee has been off since the regular season ended on Sunday. Whether that proves to be an advantage or not will be determined beginning with Game 1 of the National League Division Series on Saturday.

The two teams are no strangers to each other, and though the Brewers had the best record in the National League this season, in their twelve 2025 contests against each other, the Cubs have won seven of those games.

“It’s going to be a great atmosphere. It’s Cubs-Brewers. That’s going to be as good as it gets,” Counsell said. “It’s always a great atmosphere when the two teams play each other. We’ll try to get as many Cubs fans in there as we can. They won’t like that, but it’s going to be a fun atmosphere, I know that.”