Two days after left calf cramping forced Manny Machado from a game, he is back in the lineup at designated hitter for the Padres’ series finale against the Cubs.

Wednesday’s first pitch is at 1:10 p.m. on Padres.TV.

The DH day is the first for the season for Machado, who was available off the bench Tuesday and was trending toward a return to the lineup on Wednesday.

“We’re going to talk to him after the game tonight, but he wants to play,” Padres bench coach Randy Knorr said late Tuesday night. “He wants to see how he feels. He’s going to test it out a little bit. We’d love to have him in the lineup. So it’s up to him. It’s still April. Long way to go here. He’s on fire right now, so we really want him to play, but it’s going to be up to him.”

Knorr will manage Wednesday’s game in place of Craig Stammen, who is attending a funeral.

Machado is hitting .409/.409/.773 with two homers during a five-game hitting streak. He’ll bat third in Wednesday’s lineup, which has several tweak built around a day off for Ramón Laureano, who is hitting .182/.263/.242 over his last eight games.

The one that jumps out: Jackson Merrill leading off for just the second time in his career.

Series finale. pic.twitter.com/sEuGvpui3T

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) April 29, 2026

Merrill does not have an extra-base hit in his last 10 games (.103/.186/.103).

Shortstop Xander Bogaerts is in the cleanup spot for the second day in a row after hitting his team-leading fifth homer on Tuesday.

Ty France will man first base, Miguel Andujar will play third and Nick Castellanos will get the start in left field.

Additionally, Luis Campusano is starting a second game in a row and is paired with Matt Waldron for the second time in three starts.

The Padres (19-10) have not lost a series since the second series of the season.

Here is how the Cubs will line up for the series finale:

Last one before heading home.

Watch the game live on @WatchMarquee. pic.twitter.com/6EGy16WvOE

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 29, 2026

 

Wednesday’s pitching matchup

Cubs RHP Jameson Taillon (1-1, 4.55 ERA) 

He’s gone six innings in three of his five starts so far this season, but he has a 5.73 ERA in two road starts. Taillon has a 2.40 ERA in five regular-season starts against the Padres. He also started last year’s decisive Game 3 in the NL Wild Card Series with four shutout innings.

Here is how Taillon has fared against current Padres:

Padres RHP Matt Waldron (0-1, 12.46 ERA) 

He has allowed 16 hits, including two home runs, through his first two starts (8 ⅔ innings. Waldron has thrown his knuckleball 31.3% of the time so far and is allowing a .500 batting average and a .929 slugging percentage off the pitch. This is Waldron’s first career start against the Cubs.

Only two Cubs have history with Waldron:

OF Michael Conforto (1-for-5, 2B)
3B Alex Bregman (0-for-2)