Chicago faces elimination at Petco Park. San Diego leads the National League Wild Card Series 1-0 after an 8-0 win Tuesday.
First pitch is 10 p.m. ET. The game streams on Peacock and airs on NBC Sports Network, which is available through YouTube TV, Fubo and Xfinity. Spanish coverage is on Universo with Univision Radio providing Spanish audio. ESPN Radio has national coverage.
Nick Pivetta starts for San Diego at 3-2 with a 2.86 ERA. He has made four starts since coming off the injured list and none has gone longer than five innings. Kevin Gausman starts for Chicago at 9-12 with a 4.51 ERA. He hurt his left shoulder last week and may be limited.
San Diego lineup: Fernando Tatis Jr. RF, Dustin Harris LF, Manny Machado 3B, Ty France 1B, Jackson Merrill CF, Xander Bogaerts SS, Ethan Salas C, Austin Hays DH, Jake Cronenworth 2B.
Ethan Salas starts at catcher. The 20-year-old Venezuelan would be the youngest player in major league history to start a postseason game behind the plate.
San Diego won the opener 8-0. Michael King threw seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out eight, and carried a no-hitter into the seventh. Chicago pulled Matthew Boyd after four.
Pete Crow-Armstrong went 0-for-3 with a walk and argued two check-swing calls with third-base umpire Bill Miller. He is 5-for-30 in his postseason career after leading the majors with 45 home runs and finishing fourth with 107 RBIs and 41 stolen bases.
Yuki Matsui and Joe Musgrove were the only San Diego relievers used in Game 1, each throwing one inning. Musgrove had not pitched in a major league game since tearing his UCL in the 2024 wild card series at the same ballpark.
Chicago has seven pitchers on the 60-day injured list, including Justin Steele, Cade Horton and Ben Brown.
If San Diego wins, it opens the Division Series against Milwaukee. If Chicago wins, Game 3 is Thursday at Petco Park.
In earlier games Wednesday, Philadelphia beat Atlanta 4-3 in 10 innings to force a Game 3, ending on the first walk-off ABS challenge in postseason history. The White Sox beat Houston 7-3 to sweep their series and advance to face Cleveland. New York leads Boston 2-0 in the sixth at Yankee Stadium, with Luis Garcia Jr. homering in the fourth and Cody Bellinger driving in a run in the fifth.
