San Diego Padres fans celebrate returning to .500 with win over Chicago Cubs: "Found the bats tonight. Great work" "Ok I love you guys again"

The San Diego Padres are back to .500 after rallying to defeat the Chicago Cubs 5-3 on Wednesday night at Wrigley Field.

San Diego trailed 3-2 with two on and one out in the top of the seventh innings when Fernando Tatis Jr. put the Padres ahead for good on a two-run single in-between third base and shortstop. The base hit scored Ha-Seong Kim and Trent Grisham and set San Diego's course for victory.

Tatis did another bit of damage with an insurance RBI in the ninth, singling home Nelson Velasquez on a sharp single to center field.

Tatis Jr. went 2-for-5 in the game to raise his batting average to .222 since re-joining the San Diego Padres on April 20. San Diego logged nine total hits off of Chicago Cubs pitching, led by two hits for Tatis and Kim.

Nick Martinez picked up the win with three innings of scoreless relief after starter Michael Wacha surrendered three earned runs on four hits in five innings. Closer Josh Hader briefly struggled, but held on for his ninth save of the season.

San Diego have won four of six games since the return of Tatis Jr., and are now one game behind the National League West-leading Arizona Diamondbacks heading into Thursday's contest.

The Padres have remained in the hunt despite getting minimal production from superstars Juan Soto and Manny Machado.

Soto, San Diego's big-time trade acquisition in 2022, continues to disappoint since leaving the Washington Nationals and is currently hitting .178 on the season after going 0-for-5 with three strikeouts against the Chicago Cubs.

Machado, the runner-up to the 2022 National League Most Valuable Player award, is hitting just .214 following a 1-for-4 evening at Wrigley Field.

Hader gave the Chicago Cubs a brief ray of hope after putting two runners in the bottom of the ninth. However, he forced a harmless pop-up out of Cubs second baseman Nico Horner to end the game and clinch the San Diego Padres' victory.

It's been a rough April for Padres followers, but with Tatis Jr. back, it appears that San Diego is righting the ship. Still just a wee hop away from leading the division, San Diegans are beginning to feel optimistic once again.

San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs play rubber match Thursday afternoon at Wrigley Field

Ha-Seong Kim #7 of the San Diego Padres steals second base

The Padres and Cubs play a rubber match of their three-game series at 1:20 p.m. on Thursday afternoon, with Seth Lugo toeing the rubber for San Diego against Hayden Wesneski for Chicago.