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SAN DIEGO — Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a go-ahead, two-run home run with two outs in the eighth — two innings after the Padres scored seven runs — and San Diego stunned the Chicago Cubs 9-8 Monday night.

On the 20th anniversary of the first Padres game at Petco Park, Tatis exuberantly celebrated the moment that fully erased an 8-0 deficit. He held his bat out with his left arm as he watched the ball sail into the left-field seats, flipped it, hollered and pumped his fists as he started his trot. He was wearing custom cleats honoring the late Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn. Rookie Jackson Merrill was aboard on a leadoff walk off Adbert Alzolay (1-1).

“It was amazing. But all credit to the boys,” Tatis said. “We were down 8-0, and we were never out of the game. We kept building, we kept taking good at-bats against tough pitches. The boys started executing. We started moving the line, we kept believing in each other and that was just the final blow.”

The win tied the Padres’ largest comeback in franchise history. The other three games they won after trailing by eight runs: May 23, 1970, at the San Francisco Giants; June 10, 1974, versus the Pittsburgh Pirates; and July 8, 2021, versus the Washington Nationals.

The Cubs, meanwhile, entered Monday having won 234 consecutive games they led by eight or more runs. Their last such loss came on June 28, 2002, at the Chicago White Sox.

In conjunction with his branding company Xample, Tatis plans to unveil 50 pairs of custom cleats this season. His choice for Monday night, featuring different designs on each cleat, honored Gwynn, known as Mr. Padre, who played his entire 20-season career in San Diego. Gwynn died in 2014 at age 54.

“Definitely the shoes,” Tatis said with a laugh. “The power came from above. Always grateful. Definitely a little bit inspired today. I’m going to keep playing with them. Hopefully, they keep sending good luck. Just happy I was wearing those shoes today.”

As Padres manager Mike Shildt said, “It was a big homer. Impressive. Impressive guy. Real proud of him.”

Tatis slammed into the wall in right after just missing Dansby Swanson‘s two-run triple in the fourth that gave the Cubs an 8-0 lead.

Shildt said Tatis came up to him in the dugout and said, “Man, just a game of inches.”

“I said, ‘Yeah, sometimes things don’t work out and we’ve got to keep fighting.’ This was when it was 8-0,” the manager explained, “and he said, ‘Don’t worry, we’re going to keep fighting,’ and he patted me on the back.”

Wandy Peralta (1-0) got the win and Robert Suarez the save, his fourth.

Cubs right-hander Javier Assad, who grew up across the border, in Tijuana, took a two-hit shutout and an 8-0 lead into the sixth before the Padres pulled within a run in the sixth that was highlighted by two-run homers by Jake Cronenworth and Xander Bogaerts. The Padres had five hits, a walk and an error that inning.

Assad allowed a leadoff walk to Tatis before being chased by Cronenworth’s two-run homer — his first of the season — to right. Jose Cuas came on for Chicago, and the next three Padres batters reached, starting with Manny Machado on an error by shortstop Swanson that made three of the runs unearned. Ha-Seong Kim smacked a two-run triple, and Luis Campusano hit an RBI grounder. Bogaerts capped the scoring with a two-run shot off Luke Little for his first homer of the campaign. Tatis flied out to right to end the inning.

Assad allowed two runs and three hits, with seven strikeouts and three walks.

San Diego’s Yu Darvish, who pitched for the Cubs from 2018 to 2020, threw 42 pitches in the second inning, when the Cubs scored four runs on three hits, two walks and a hit batter. Darvish twice loaded the bases, and Ian Happ and Cody Bellinger each hit a two-run single.

Darvish got through a quick third inning but was done for the night after allowing four runs and four hits while striking out four and walking three. It was just the 10th time in 281 career starts, including the postseason, that Darvish went three or fewer innings.

The Cubs then jumped on Pedro Avila for four more runs in the fourth. After the Cubs loaded the bases with one out, Bellinger hit a sacrifice fly, Christopher Morel hit an RBI double and Swanson tripled in two more.

ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Coach: Canes must be smarter about retaliation

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Coach: Canes must be smarter about retaliation

RALEIGH — Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said his players have to be smarter about retaliating against the Florida Panthers‘ trademark agitation.

“We know that’s how they do things,” he said on Wednesday, after Florida took a 1-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals with a 5-2 win. “Find a way not to let that get to you. Stick to what is going to win us games.”

At issue for the Hurricanes in Game 1 was center Sebastian Aho‘s roughing penalty against Florida’s Anton Lundell at 6:59 of the first period, which negated a Carolina power play and led to Carter Verhaeghe scoring the first goal of the game on a Panthers’ power play. Aho took a swing at Lundell after the Panthers center cross-checked him. The referees whistled the retaliation but not the initial stickwork that provoked it.

“I mean, the first penalty is bad call, right? You’re going to have those. But that’s my thing: Retaliation penalties are not going to get it done,” Brind’Amour said. “We did a pretty good job with [retaliation], but it just takes one. That’s my point. You can’t have that one, because that really puts you behind the game and now it’s different.”

The Hurricanes are 5-0 when scoring first in the playoffs and 3-3 when they don’t. Carolina’s penalty kill had stopped 14 of 15 power plays at home and 28 of 30 overall in the playoffs until Game 1, when Florida went 2-for-3 with the man advantage.

“They made us pay. It’s a good team that knows how to score goals and finds way to win games when you make mistakes,” Carolina captain Jordan Staal said. “We’ve got to limit those mistakes.”

Another example of the Hurricanes’ retaliation, though a less costly one for Carolina, came in the third period when defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere deliberately shot a puck at Florida forward Brad Marchand. In this case, the Panthers got the worst of it, as Marchand was given a double minor for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct.

“Just heated. I was pretty pissed off. He tried to take a run at me. I shot the puck at him. We had a little [tussle],” Gostisbehere said.

After Game 1, neither Panthers players nor coach Paul Maurice would discuss the incident in detail.

“It happens. It’s what it is. I mean, we block shots all the time, so what’s the difference?” Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad said.

That attitude extends to the Panthers’ composure on the ice. While the Panthers have earned their reputation as an irritating, physical opponent — attributes that helped them win the Stanley Cup for the first time last season — they can dish it out and take it.

Look no further than the Florida crease in Game 1, where the Hurricanes crashed the net of goalie Sergei Bobrovsky with frequency. At one point, forward Andrei Svechnikov‘s hip collided with Bobrovsky’s head. But the goalie wasn’t knocked off his game and his team didn’t retaliate.

“It’s OK. It’s the playoffs. They try to get under the skin. I just focus on my things and try not to think about that,” Bobrovsky said after his Game 1 win.

Maurice praised his netminder’s composure.

“Sergei’s not a kid. He’s been through it. He’s been bumped. He’s just developed a skill set that it just doesn’t bother him,” the coach said. “No one likes getting elbowed in the head, but it won’t be the first time or the last time.”

Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals is Thursday night in Raleigh. The Hurricanes have now lost 13 straight games in that round of the playoffs, including five straight to the Panthers.

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Ex-MLB All-Star Segura retires after 12 seasons

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Ex-MLB All-Star Segura retires after 12 seasons

PHILADELPHIA — Jean Segura, a two-time All-Star infielder who hit .281 in a 12-year major league career with six teams, announced his retirement.

Segura’s announcement was made on social media Wednesday by his agent, CAA Sports, and the Philadelphia Phillies, for whom he played from 2019-22.

The 35-year-old Segura last played in the major leagues in 2023, with the Miami Marlins.

He was an All-Star in 2013 with the Milwaukee Brewers and 2018 with the Seattle Mariners. Segura led the National League with 203 hits in 2016, while with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

He also played for the Los Angeles Angels. He lone postseason appearance was in 2022, with the Phillies.

He finished his career with 1,545 hits, 513 RBI, 110 home runs and 211 stolen bases in 1,413 games.

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Giants to place Verlander (pec) on 15-day IL

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Giants to place Verlander (pec) on 15-day IL

San Francisco Giants right-hander Justin Verlander will be placed on the 15-day injured list due to a right pectoral injury, manager Bob Melvin said after Wednesday’s 8-4 loss to the Kansas City Royals.

The decision was reached after Verlander threw on the side Wednesday. During the session, it became apparent to Verlander that he wouldn’t be able to make his scheduled start against the host Washington Nationals on Saturday and might not make his following turn.

“They’re saying, ‘give yourself a blow. Take the 15 days and let’s get this behind you and be ready to go,'” Verlander said of the Giants.

San Francisco is hopeful Verlander will only be sidelined for a short time.

“He’ll end up missing two starts and then I think everything will be good,” Melvin said. “He’s obviously not happy about it because he wants to make every start but it was the prudent thing to do.”

The tricky part of forecasting is that Verlander is experiencing nerve irritation in the pectoral muscle. The 42-year-old insisted it’s not related to the neck injury he sustained in June of last season with the Houston Astros that led to him missing more than two months.

Verlander is winless in 10 starts with the Giants and struggled in Sunday’s outing against the visiting Athletics.

Verlander had velocity and command issues in four innings against the Athletics and issued a season-worst five walks. He allowed two runs, three hits and struck out one.

“There are always things you’re pushing through,” Verlander said while referring to the Sunday outing. “It’s always difficult to be 100 percent in this game. It was one of those things where I thought I was going to be just fine. Then I go out there and start throwing, look up (at the scoreboard) after the first pitch and see 90-91, and I thought, ‘Oh, boy. Gonna be a tough day.'”

Verlander is 0-3 with a 4.33 ERA in his first campaign with San Francisco. He has struck out 41 and walked 21 in 52 innings.

The three-time American League Cy Young Award winner and 2011 AL MVP is in his 20th big league season. A nine-time All-Star, Verlander is 262-150 with a 3.31 ERA in 536 career starts.

Melvin said it was too soon to make a decision on who will start Saturday’s game.

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