San Diego Padres vs Chicago Cubs Prediction & Picks - MLB

Prediction published on 10/2/25, 1:13 PM  by Lou Aguila | Modified on 10/3/25 at 2:02 AM in MLB Picks

The Chicago Cubs will duke it out with the San Diego Padres in another winners-take-all Game 3 on Thursday at Wrigley Field.

The Cubs, who are 50-31 at home this season, emerge as slight favorites at -116. The Padres, 38-43 on the road this year, are -105 underdogs with a +164 value on -1.5 runs run line.

Series Recap:

The Cubs drew first blood as Seiya Suzuki belted a homer to ignite his team to a 3-1 win in Game 1. Matthew Boyd allowed one earned runs over 4.1 innings while the Cubs bullpen shut down the Padres in the last five innings. San Diego then leveled the series at 1-1 with a 3-0 victory in Game 2. The Padres leaned on their impeccable pitching to hold the Cubs scoreless through 9 innings. Dylan Cease pitched three scoreless innings, while Adrian Mojeron, Mason Miller and Robert Suarez did their assignments to close out the Cubs and extend the series to a decider.

Starting Pitchers Matchup: Padres RHP Yu Darvish (5-5, 5.38 ERA) vs. Cubs RHP James Taillon (11-7. 3.63 ERA)

Yu Darvish is 4-1 with a 4.81 ERA across his last five starts. In his last three matchups with the Cubs batting corps, Darvish has allowed a total of four earned runs and recorded two scoreless stints.

James Taillon is 5-1 with an elite 1.59 ERA in his last five starts. Taillon is 2-1 in his last three starts against the Padres, averaging 2.0 earned runs and 3.7 strikeouts over 5.0 innings per game.