ARCHIVE April 28, 2026
April 28, 2026 · NL West

Chicago Cubs vs San Diego Padres

April 28, 2026Petco ParkClear 66°F · 10 mph, L To R
AWAY
Chicago Cubs
18-12
8
vs
HOME
San Diego Padres
19-10
3

Starting pitchers

AWAY · CHC
Edward Cabrera
Edward Cabrera
IP 5.2
HOME · SD
Walker Buehler
Walker Buehler
IP 4.2

Lineups

AWAY · CHC
  1. 1 Nico Hoerner 2B
  2. 2 Moisés Ballesteros DH
  3. 3 Seiya Suzuki RF
  4. 4 Ian Happ LF
  5. 5 Michael Busch 1B
  6. 6 Carson Kelly C
  7. 7 Dansby Swanson SS
  8. 8 Pete Crow-Armstrong CF
  9. 9 Matt Shaw 3B
HOME · SD
  1. 1 Ramón Laureano LF
  2. 2 Fernando Tatis Jr. 2B
  3. 3 Jackson Merrill CF
  4. 4 Xander Bogaerts SS
  5. 5 Ty France 1B
  6. 6 Gavin Sheets DH
  7. 7 Luis Campusano C
  8. 8 Bryce Johnson RF
  9. 9 Jake Cronenworth 3B

Box score

  123456789 R
CHC 020002400 8
SD 010101000 3

Manager comparison

Both managers grade C / B entering this matchup.

AWAY · CHC
Craig Counsell
C Lineup 1.7 R Bunts 0.4 R IBBs 0.3 R
HOME · SD
Craig Stammen
B Lineup 0.8 R Bunts 0.4 R IBBs 0.2 R

Recent form

AWAY · CHC
10-0 W10 +27 run diff
WWWWWWWWWW
HOME · SD
4-6 L1 -6 run diff
LWWLWLLLLW

Season series: 2-1 with CHC listed first across 3 prior meetings.

Tactical analysis

RunsLeft separates manager decisions from player execution from game variance. Each card below is the same three-number framework that drives the share cards on the SPA replay page.

AWAY · Chicago Cubs
  • Manager lineup cost −0.07 R/G Optimal arrangement projects 4.81 vs actual lineup 4.88
  • Player execution +3.12 R/G Players exceeded the lineup's 4.88 projection by 3.12 (scored 8)
  • Game variance +3.19 R/G Total game outcome vs optimal expectation

Crow-Armstrong HR from the 8-hole

HOME · San Diego Padres
  • Manager lineup cost +0.07 R/G Optimal arrangement projects 3.42 vs actual lineup 3.35
  • Player execution −0.35 R/G Players fell 0.35 short of the lineup's 3.35 projection (scored 3)
  • Game variance −0.42 R/G Total game outcome vs optimal expectation

Jr. 0-for-4 batting 2nd

COUNTERFACTUAL

Optimal lineups projected 4.8 – 3.4 — actual was 8 – 3.

Keep reading

How RunsLeft analyzes games

Standard content on this page comes from the MLB Stats API. Tactical analysis comes from a per-game Monte Carlo: 10,000 simulated games against the opposing starter's ERA, both for the actual lineup the manager wrote and for the optimal arrangement of those nine players. The three numbers — manager cost, player execution, game variance — separate which part of the result was the lineup, the players, or the dice.

Read the full methodology.