Padres hope to ride energy from loud home crowd when they host Cubs in NL Wild Card Series

The San Diego Padres aim to harness the energy of their enthusiastic home crowd at Petco Park when they host the Chicago Cubs in the NL Wild Card Series starting Tuesday night. In 1984, Tony Gwynn, Steve Garvey and the Padres rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Cubs, reaching their first World Series. This year, Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and the Padres hope to replicate that success against NL MVP frontrunner Pete Crow-Armstrong and the Cubs.

The Padres, who had 66 sellouts and a total attendance of 3,347,081 this season, are hosting all three games of the best-of-three series at Petco Park. Manager Craig Stammen expressed his appreciation for the home support, stating that it's a great feeling to have the crowd behind them. Chicago's Matthew Boyd and San Diego's Michael King are set to start the first two games.

Tatis Jr. overcame a prolonged home run drought, hitting his first in the 56th game of the season, while Machado has hit 30 home runs for the seventh time in his career. The Padres turned their season around after the All-Star break, going 43-23 and clinching their third consecutive postseason berth. They aim to build on their strong offensive performance and stay healthy throughout the postseason.