The Chicago Cubs were 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position Tuesday night in San Diego when Nico Hoerner led off the top of the 10th inning.

Hoerner made sure Dansby Swanson — on second base thanks to MLB’s ghost-runner rule — came home when he laced a triple into the right-center gap, providing the difference in the Cubs’ 2-1 win over the red-hot Padres at Petco Park.

Hoerner, a California native, looked comfortable at the plate all night, leading the Cubs (12-8) with a 3-for-5 game and the winning RBI.

“I was looking to drive the runner in — at least get him over, but drive him in at the same time — and I was able to do that,” Hoerner told Marquee Sports Network’s Taylor McGregor on “Cubs Postgame Live!” “It was awesome.”

It was just another clutch hit for Hoerner, who ranks fifth among Cubs players since 1974 with a .307 batting average with runners in scoring position.

The Padres (14-4) began the 2025 season with 11 consecutive home wins, including a come-from-behind 10-4 decision over the Cubs in Game 1 of the three-game series Monday. But the Cubs ended the streak Tuesday, thanks to Hoerner’s big night at the dish and another terrific Shota Imanaga outing.

The Japanese left-hander went five innings and allowed one unearned run, four hits and three walks with seven strikeouts, and five Chicago relievers followed with five total shutout innings to seal the win.

“The pitching was absolutely the story of this game,” Hoerner told McGregor. “We left some outs on the field defensively. We had some situations to score runs, and we didn’t. But our bullpen and everyone else was incredible today and gave us a really great chance to win against a good team.”

The only Cubs blemish came in the fifth inning, with two outs, the bases clear and Imanaga on the mound. Kyle Tucker and Gage Workman each dropped a pop-up in foul territory during the same Manny Machado at-bat. The All-Star slugger made the Cubs pay for those mistakes when he launched a solo home run to give the Padres a 1-0 lead.

After that, the Cubs’ bullpen shut the door, as Daniel Palencia made his 2025 season debut with a scoreless sixth, Julian Merryweather pitched a clean seventh, Porter Hodge only allowed one hit in the eighth and Ryan Pressly worked a 1-2-3 ninth to force extra innings.

Caleb Thielbar, a 38-year-old left-hander, earned just the fifth save of his 355-game MLB career, closed down the 10th, guaranteeing the Cubs at least a split of their six-game West Coast road trip that started with three games in LA against the defending World Series champion Dodgers.

“Everybody we put out there did a heck of a job,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell told reporters after the game. “We had a rough night last night, and a great night tonight. But they pitched great. Caleb Thielbar had a heck of an inning, and did a really nice job.”

Pete Crow-Armstrong provided more of his brand-name chaos in the sixth, dropping a squeeze bunt to score Swanson from third base for the Cubs’ only run in the first nine innings.

The Cubs haven’t lost a series since the season opener against the Dodgers in Japan, and thanks to Hoerner’s late game heroics, they can swipe another road series with a win Wednesday. 

“We’ve talked about it a lot, since the beginning of spring, the ability to win all different kinds of ballgames,” Hoerner told McGregor. “We can slug, we can score small-ball runs, we can run the bases, and that was a good example.”