Seiya Suzuki and Carson Kelly hit back-to-back homers Tuesday, guiding the Cubs to a 3-1 win over the Padres 3-1 in Game 1 of their National League Wild Card Series.

Chicago also got a perfect performance from its bullpen in the franchise’s first playoff win since the 2017 NL Championship Series. The Cubs were swept by Miami in the wild-card round in 2020 during their last postseason appearance.

Now San Diego, hoping to avoid the same fate, sends Dylan Cease to the mound at noon Wednesday for Game 2 of the best-of-three series at Wrigley Field.

“Clearly our backs are against it,” said manager Mike Shildt. “But our club’s no stranger to challenges. You know, we’re battle tested, we want to answer the call tomorrow and we’ll go from there.”

Suzuki opened the fifth inning with a 424-foot

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