An old-fashioned pitchers' duel at one of baseball's cathedrals turned quickly on some old-school small ball and devolved into a little bit of a free-for-all.

The Padres scored six runs on six hits, a walk and intrepid baserunning in the sixth inning before having to hold on by the strength of closer Robert Suarez's arm for a 6-3 victory over the Cubs on a windy Monday evening at Wrigley Field.

A pair of Cubs homers against a wild succession of Padres relievers made it a tense final few innings before Suarez entered with the bases loaded and one out in the eighth inning and recorded his second five-out save of the season.

The scoring did not commence until the two starting pitchers — Yu Darvish for the Padres and Justin Steele for the Cubs — were finished.

It was just the second game this season in which the Padres were involved in a 0-0 game after five innings.

It wasn't like Michael King vs. the Brewers bullpen on April 17, when King took a no-hitter into the seventh and a pair of relievers held the Padres to two hits in that time.

But it was, on a night in which the wind blew in and across from right to left, superbly pitched by a pair of opening-day starters.

Steele had not pitched since opening day after pulling his hamstring that afternoon trying to field a bunt.

The Padres got just three hits and a walk against Steele but were rid of him after Jackson Merrill lined Steele's 68th pitch to center field for the second out of the fifth inning.

Darvish, in his second start back from the IL, made it through five innings on 83 pitches, also allowing three hits and walking one.

...continued

©2024 The San Diego Union-Tribune. Visit sandiegouniontribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.