The Padres have one of the best offenses in the majors, but the Cubs were up for the challenge and had their power-hitting shoes on Monday, using five home runs to carry them to a 7-2 victory at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs trailed 1-0 early but took the lead in the third inning. After first baseman Kris Bryant kept the inning alive with a two-out triple, shortstop Javy Baez got every bit of 3-2 changeup from Padres right-hander Chris Paddack, blasting a 455-foot homer to give the Cubs a 2-1 lead.
‘‘I was making adjustments during the at-bat,’’ Baez said. ‘‘He was [throwing] hard. [Padres catcher Victor] Caratini knows me pretty well, and with a guy that’s throwing hard, it’s hard to keep one approach.’’
Baez homered again in the seventh, giving him nine multihomer games in his career.
And Baez wasn’t the only Cubs player to have a big day. Third baseman Patrick Wisdom got in on the action, too. He hit a solo homer to give the Cubs a 3-1 lead in the fourth and another in the sixth to make it 6-2. It was the first multihomer game of his career.
‘‘I think we’ve got a lot of confidence in Patrick,’’ manager David Ross said. ‘‘This guy has always had some power in his bat.’’
‘‘I think it’s just being comfortable in the box,’’ Wisdom said. ‘‘Sticking to a routine, making sure I’m prepared for that pitcher for that day and not getting outside the moment. Staying within myself. I think has been helping me stay locked in.’’
Bryant added a two-run homer in the fifth to go with his triple.
Stewart shines in place of Williams
The Cubs put right-hander Trevor Williams, who originally was scheduled to start Monday, on the 10-day injured list with appendicitis. He had an emergency appendectomy Sunday and will have a follow-up with doctors Thursday, Ross said.
Right-hander Kohl Stewart was recalled from Triple-A Iowa to take Williams’ place on the 26-man roster and gave the Cubs exactly what they needed on short notice. He didn’t allow the Padres to get anything going offensively, yielding an unearned run and three hits in five innings to earn his first big-league victory since July 21, 2019.
‘‘You just never really know when your phone is gonna ring,’’ Stewart said. ‘‘You really have to treat every day [in Triple-A] like you’re preparing to play in the big leagues the following day.
‘‘It’s been nice to see a lot of guys come up and pitch well. It’s nice to pitch on a team like that when guys can kind of feed off one another’s performances like that.’’
