SAN DIEGO_They helped fill the seats and stood and cheered and chanted throughout the night and robustly sang the seventh-inning stretch and were one strike from going home disappointed.
But all those Chicago Cubs fans who helped make up the fourth-largest crowd at Petco Park this season ended up getting an extra inning of baseball and seeing their team win 5-4.
For the San Diego Padres and their relatively small group of faithful among the 38,988 in attendance, it was difficult to rank the series of awful events that took them from up a run going into the ninth inning to losing in the 10th.
First, Anthony Rizzo's two-out double on a full-count slider off the plate from Brad Hand scored pinch-runner Jason Heyward from first base to tie the game 4-4.
The Padres went down in order in the ninth on three strikeouts � their ninth, 10th and 11th whiffs in a four-inning stretch.
The 10th inning began with third baseman Christian Villaueva making a barehanded grab and throw to get the first out. But the next batter, Javy Baez, reached on an infield single that rolled softly up the third base line and hit the bag.
During the next at-bat, Baez took off for second and ended up scoring.
Catcher Austin Hedges' throw sailed into center field, allowing Baez to go to third. And when Manuel Margot bobbled the ball, Baez raced come � against the apparent wishes of Cubs third base coach Brian Butterfield.
All this after the Padres had taken their third lead of the night with their own two-out RBI in the eighth inning.
Hedges reached out and slapped the eighth pitch he saw in the eighth inning to right field for a single that scored Margot.
They took two leads in the first two innings but had three hits between then and Margot's hit off Carl Edwards Jr.
Travis Jankowski figured in the first three Padres runs.
The lead-off hitter walked to start the bottom of the first and, after Carlos Asuaje's single and Wil Myers' walk loaded the bases, scored on a fielder's choice grounder by Eric Hosmer.
Jankowski's second home run of the season followed Clayton Richard's two-out single in the second inning.
The Cubs, who took a 2-1 lead in the top of the second inning, tied the game in the fifth on a double by University of San Diego product Kris Bryant that scored Albert Almora Jr. from second base.
Richard survived six innings despite walking five batters and allowing six hits, thanks in part to two things he does well besides pitching. He ended the third inning by catching Baez attempting to steal on a pick-off throw, and double play grounders helped him out of the first and sixth innings.
Richard's 19 groundball double plays lead the majors. He has two pick-offs this season after leading the majors with eight in 2017.
But while Richard delivered his 11th quality start, tied with Tyson Ross for the team lead, Friday continued a troubling wild slide for Richard. After walking 12 batters and hitting three over 62 1/3 innings in his nine starts from May 8 through June 22, Richard has walked 15 and hit five over 24 innings in his past four starts.
