NL WILD CARD SERIES: CUBS VS PADRES

September 29, 2026

Craig Stammen

Petco Park

San Diego Padres

Postgame Press Conference

Q. Craig, getting out early, adding on Michael, is there a way that this game could have gone more perfectly?

CRAIG STAMMEN: No, probably not. We scored early, got a lot of momentum going on, especially home runs from two of our biggest players, and then we were able to add on a lot of the innings. Then the big three runs in the fifth with two outs kind of gave us a cushion we felt comfortable with.

Then Michael pitched a great game, had a no-hitter for 6 1/3, I think it was, and we were able to save Mason, Adrian a little bit and then finish with Joe. We couldn't write it up any better.

Q. Your first playoff game as a manager, how intense was that? Obviously you had your guys -- you were very aggressive with guys warming up being ready for any potential trouble. How was it?

CRAIG STAMMEN: Yeah, it was better -- in my mind, it was better to be safe than sorry. Back of my head, like a rookie manager freaking out a little bit. I just wanted to be prepared. The rest of the group behind me helped me get prepared for the game and for the Cubs, and it worked out well today.

Q. Michael's obviously delivered in some really big spots before. Tonight was maybe as good as he's looked. What do you notice about him in a start like this one where he maybe elevates it a notch?

CRAIG STAMMEN: For me it's all about his fastball. I've said it all year, the fastball command. When he's clicking it and touching 98 the first inning, you know he's got something a little extra in the night and the adrenaline is working for him.

You want your best players to be at their best when the best are required. Michael has done that over and over and over again. He's done it in the playoffs, and he did it again tonight.

Q. Can you kind of put into context the moment for Joe Musgrove there, seeing the whole crowd get up when he enters the game? I know you were focused on winning the game at that point, but what was that like?

CRAIG STAMMEN: It was emotional for a lot of people and probably especially Joe. The fan base has always loved Joe because he's one of their own, and rightly so, they should, and it just worked out tonight that it was a good time to bring him in the game. Eight-run lead, felt fairly comfortable with that, and we knew we had our leverage relievers behind him if it didn't go well. We had Mason ready.

For Joe to finish that game is pretty awesome. It's a good way to cap it off. Now he's back into the field. He's got that first one out of the way. Hopefully we can use him if we make a run here in the playoffs a little bit more often.

Q. Any idea when you kind of realize like, okay, hey, we want to go to Musgrove in this situation? I know probably not very preplanned, but just curious when you decided, all right, this is the time for him?

CRAIG STAMMEN: I had a specific run total in mind or deficit -- I guess lead, in our way of looking at it -- that I felt comfortable bringing Joe in. That met the criteria today. Just kind of felt right to bring him in in that moment.

I trust him probably more than most, just because I've seen the best of Joe and believe that the best is still in there, the best is yet to come. Today was the first step for that.

Q. Michael is one of those guys where when they're really on, you kind of almost say, oh, this could be something. I wonder if the first inning, if that was too soon, a couple of sweepers, fastball at 98, what were you thinking? When did you know Michael was on tonight?

CRAIG STAMMEN: I thought he was on at the beginning. He shows that sometimes. The Dodgers game he was like that the beginning of the game too, and then the second inning got away from him. He kept attacking the zone. He walked a couple guys in there that made you, all right, is he going to hang in there? But he got the next guy out right away.

It was just an overall dominating outing by him. He used all his pitches. They were all working, especially his fastball. That was electric tonight. He had the sweeper going to the right using the slider. He just had a full mix of everything, and he was throwing strikes. When he throws strikes, we usually feel good about him on the mound.

Q. The crowd and the relationship between, say, Tatis and the crowd, did that work out about like you thought it might?

CRAIG STAMMEN: Yeah, that's what he brings to the table for our team. He's an energizer. He can get this crowd going in a frenzy. He did that with the leadoff home run. He did that with stealing second, third, and home in one play. He just can do so much on the field that can get the team going, the fans going, our city going.

That's why we love having Fernando on his team, and he's such a polarizing figure in that way.

Q. Building on that, they're obviously the guys who drag your offense, but for Fernando and Manny to step up immediately and make a statement on the first pitch, first at-bat, what does that do for the confidence of the team, and what does that do going forward?

CRAIG STAMMEN: Great confidence getting out to a lead right away, and coming from your two biggest players makes everyone settle in just a little bit. Then as the game went on, we got contributions from everybody, and they kept doing it too. When those guys are leading the charge, we're a pretty tough team.

Q. Is there ever like a human element to it that you're like watching it, like the stadium is raucous and you're like, holy crap, this is really cool?

CRAIG STAMMEN: Yeah, I got some advice to be able to enjoy it, and there were some moments where I was enjoying it quite a bit. It's a different kind of game. It wasn't like super tight for the entire game. I mean, it was tight for a while. At the end we had a bigger lead.

But every playoff inning feels like it's tight. That was at least what it felt like to me. But there were a couple moments where like, all right, this is pretty cool. We got the crowd and the atmosphere we need to have some success.

Q. It was such an emphatic win and so many things went right. How do you kind of keep it in perspective that's one win and there's still obviously a job to do tomorrow?

CRAIG STAMMEN: You're right, it's just one game, and we've got a job to do to finish the series off. We've got to come tomorrow and bring it. The Cubs are a great team. They didn't play their best game tonight, but I guarantee they're going to play their best game tomorrow.

So we've got to match them. We've got the San Diego faithful behind us. I know we're going to feel that extra man behind us that's going to give us a little extra boost. If we can get them going again like we did today, we have a good chance.