The San Diego Padres have been playing incredible baseball as of late, making a hard charge for the top Wild Card seed — earning homefield advantage against the Chicago Cubs in the process. This seems to have paid off immediately. On the very first pitch that Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego's leadoff hitter, faced on the night, he homered to deep left-center field, much to the excitement of the fans over at Petco Park.

FERNANDO TATIS JR. HOMERS ON THE FIRST PITCH! pic.twitter.com/keB0nySHuz

— MLB (@MLB) September 30, 2026

Tatis knew it too; he held the bat up for as long as he could before rounding the bases, and while Pete Crow-Armstrong, the likely 2026 NL MVP, gave the ball a chase to try and rob the Padres right fielder of a home run, this simply was not to be.

This angle of Tatis' home run shows just how much of a moonshot his long ball was, which then set the tone for the Padres on Tuesday night.

This view of Fernando Tatis Jr.'s home run 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/GKkbil7bJS

— MLB (@MLB) September 30, 2026

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Tatis has a history of performing well under the bright lights of the postseason. While he didn't cover himself in glory last year in a Wild Card round series loss to the Cubs (he had an OPS of .237 in three games), he was on fire during the 2024 MLB postseason, when he put a legitimate scare into the Los Angeles Dodgers' heart by hitting three home runs in the NLDS before San Diego bowed out in five games.

This Padres team is playing with an unmistakable fire, as they are looking to avenge their three-game series loss to the Cubs in last year's postseason. They dropped both of their games against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, so this time around, San Diego is looking to give Chicago a dose of their own medicine.

Tatis' home run paved the way for an offensive explosion from San Diego in Game 1, scoring eight runs in a shutout victory over the Cubs to take a 1-0 lead in the series.