BOX SCORE

CHICAGO — The Cubs arrived to Wrigley Field on Wednesday with a chance to do something they hadn’t since 2016: Clinch a playoff series at home.

Instead, they’ll return to The Friendly Confines on Thursday for a do-or-die Game 3 after they fell to the San Diego Padres 3-0 to tie the three-game set at one apiece.

There was a palpable buzz with the opportunity to clinch, but a first-inning run, followed by a deflating two-run homer and a dominant performance by San Diego’s lights-out bullpen from the fourth inning onward sucked the life out of a Wrigley crowd that was just waiting to erupt.

Here are three takeaways from the Cubs’ loss:

Opening act not to script

Cubs manager Craig Counsell couldn’t have scripted a better pitching plan in Tuesday’s Game 1 win over the Padres.

He tried to map out another near-perfect plan from the jump of Game 2 by opening with Andrew Kittredge. The hope was the right-handed reliever could cleanly maneuver through the top of San Diego’s order and turn it over to left-hander Shota Imanaga when most of the Padres’ lefty hitters were due up.

The latter came true. The former, not so much.

Kittredge allowed back-to-back singles to start the game, then — after the runners advanced on a double steal — permitted a sacrifice fly that gave the Padres an early lead.

Kittredge worked out of the runner-on-third jam, but the harm was done. The first-inning damage the Cubs hoped to avoid had been inflicted.

And then things went from bad to worse.

Imanaga’s woes return

The main reason Counsell and the Cubs didn’t want Imanaga to face the top of the Padres’ order early was because of his recent struggles. The first inning is a leverage frame, so having a right-hander who’s accustomed to pitching in those situations made sense.

But when the same situation arose in the fifth, Counsell let Imanaga face those power bats atop the lineup, and they showed why the Cubs tried to avoid that matchup.

Manny Machado crushed a 404-foot two-run homer that changed the ballgame.

It was a puzzling decision by Counsell.

Imanaga looked shaky in the fourth, allowing a walk and a single before coaxing out of it. He came back out the next inning, striking out Freddy Fermin before turning over the lineup. At that time, Michael Soroka was warming up in the Cubs’ bullpen.

Fernando Tatis Jr. worked a full-count walk, but Counsell kept Imanaga in the game to face Luis Arráez, a left-handed hitter. Arráez bunted to advance Tatis and bring up Machado, and — well, you know the rest.

The Cubs proactively avoided having Imanaga face Tatis, Arráz and Machado, yet when they had an opportunity to see him a second time in a crucial situation, they left him in the game.

Friars’ pitching shuts the door

Machado’s homer changed the complexion of the game, but the Padres’ pitching absolutely closed the door on any hint of a Cubs comeback.

San Diego starter Dylan Cease bent but never really broke in his 3.2 innings of work. And when Cease did run into trouble, Padres manager Mike Shildt was ready to turn to his dominant bullpen.

Seiya Suzuki’s two-out double in the fourth injected life into the crowd. The Padres’ decision to then intentionally walk Carson Kelly brought even more energy in the ballpark. But Shidlt had the perfect mute button — left-hander Adrián Morejón, who won the handedness match-up against Pete Crow-Armstrong by inducing a ground ball to first base to stymie the threat.

The Padres’ vaunted bullpen more than lived up to their billing. They allowed just two base runners as they picked up the final 16 outs of the game, with Morejón (2.1 innings), Mason Miller (1.2 IP) and Robert Suárez (1.1 IP) shutting the door. Miller struck out all five batters he faced in a dominant performance.

The one potentially saving grace for the Cubs in a winner-take-all game is the state of each team’s bullpen. The Padres used both Morejón and Miller in the first two games, and while they’ll be available in a winner-take-all setting Thursday, having them pitch three days in a row is a tall task.

The Cubs, meanwhile, avoided most of their leverage guys in Game 2. Brad Keller, Daniel Palencia and Drew Pomeranz were all non-participants, with Kittredge and Caleb Thielbar the only real ones used.