Daniel Palencia fires Cubs past Padres
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Xavier Andrade,
- October 1, 2025
Daniel Palencia leads Cubs' strong bullpen
Daniel Palencia didn’t make a single appearance for the Cubs before the sixth inning in the regular season this year. He actually made most of his appearances in the ninth inning as the closer.
Yet, he was summoned into the first playoff game of his career Tuesday afternoon in the fifth inning with one out, one man on base and the San Diego Padres trying to add to their one-run lead.
After leading the Cubs with 22 saves this season, Palencia began the postseason as the first reliever out of the bullpen. He approached the situation as he had during his breakout season, attacking with overpowering heat to open the NL Wild Card with a 3-1 victory at Wrigley Field.
On the attack
“My mind was just being aggressive because I’m the guy for that situation,” Palencia told Andy Martinez of the Marquee Network. “I know they’re great hitters, but I’m a great pitcher, too. It’s them vs. me, and this time I won.”
Palencia threw 36 ⅓ of his 52 ⅔ innings in the ninth or later this season. The Venezuelan reliever showed just how clutch he can be when his number is called, shutting down all five batters he faced to earn the first playoff decision of his career.
With the Padres ahead 1-0 In the top of fifth, Padres catcher Freddie Fermin hit a one-out single as the meat of San Diego’s order loomed on the horizon. Cubs manager Craig Counsell turned to the bullpen and pulled Matthew Boyd.
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Palencia took on the task of shutting down any creeping momentum the Padres had on their side. He retired Luis Arraez and Fernando Tatis Jr. to strand Fermin at first.
Carson Kelly and Seiya Suzuki then hit consecutive home runs in the bottom of the fifth innings to give the Cubs a 2-1 lead. Palencia then struck out All-Star Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill before forcing Xander Bogaerts to line out, completing his impressive day of relief.
The Cubs’ bullpen threw 4 ⅔ scoreless innings of relief to begin the best-of-3 Wild Card.
‘Credit to Danny’
“Yeah, I think to me, that’s the outing of the game that was critical. … But him throwing up five outs (facing) five hitters and going through the top of their lineup, the game made sense after that to me. Know what I mean? There was a real path right there.
“Credit to Danny for putting the game back together. Those are five tough outs. He did it efficiently.”
Nico Hoerner’s sacrifice fly in the eighth inning added to the Cubs’ lead. Palencia’s Game 1 outing was his first since he suffered a shoulder injury on Sept. 8. He sat out 19 games. Palencia showed the electric stuff that the Cubs were missing during his absence.
His future contributions may be crucial as the Cubs aim to secure one more victory to advance to the Division Series.
“You pick a guy down there, they’re going to be the hero for the day,” Boyd said of the Cubs’ bullpen. “And guys have stepped up in huge spots. I mean, today from Danny coming in and picking me up to Brad (Keller) and (Andrew Kittredge) and — I’m forgetting somebody in there (Drew Pomeranz).
“But it was awesome. Those guys, they’ve done it all year. They did it today. They’ve been huge for us.”
Featured photo courtesy of @Cubs/X.
Xavier Andrade
Xavier Andrade, who played football at Luther College, graduated with degrees in Communications and Political Science. He previously worked in editorial and social media for Hola Cultura, a Latino publication in Washington, D.C. Andrade currently coaches football at Hillsdale High School in San Mateo, Calif.
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