CHICAGO (AP) Eric Hosmer and Nelson VelƔzquez hit back-to-back homers and Dansby Swanson added his first of the season to help the Chicago Cubs top the San Diego Padres 5-2 on Thursday.

Manny Machado homered for the Padres, who had won five of seven.

Hayden Wesneski (2-1) worked the first five innings for Chicago, which took the three-game series after going 1-3 against the Los Angeles Dodgers last weekend. The right-hander allowed four hits, including Machadoā€™s solo shot in the second, and had three strikeouts and a walk.

ā€œI didnā€™t think that was our best performance, pitching-wise but when you can say that and still come away with a win and make pitches when you have to, thatā€™s what stands out to me,ā€ Cubs manager David Ross said after his pitchers got plenty of help from their defense and a persistent wind that kept several balls in the park.

Hosmer and VelƔzquez gave the Cubs the lead for good with consecutive homers off Seth Lugo (2-2) in the bottom of the second.

Lugo struck out three and gave up seven hits and all four Chicago runs in five innings, including Ian Happā€™s RBI single in his final frame. Swanson went deep in the seventh off reliever Tim Hill.

ā€œThis is a special place and getting the first one out of the way is definitely a good feeling for sure,ā€ said Swanson, who signed with the Cubs during the offseason. ā€œNo matter who we play, I feel like we match up pretty well.ā€

Wesneski loaded the bases with a pair of walks in the fourth but escaped by getting Ha-Seong Kim to ground meekly to third.

San Diegoā€™s Matt Carpenter had a sacrifice fly in the eighth to create a save situation for Brad Boxberger, who worked the ninth for his second in as many chances.

NOT SO BRIGHT

The Cubs got a final run in the second when Padres center fielder Trent Grisham lost Tucker Barnhartā€™s pop fly in the sun. Grisham appeared unsure of the ballā€™s trajectory and it dropped just in front of him for a long single that brought home Nick Madrigal for Chicagoā€™s third run.

STILL STREAKING

Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts drew a walk from reliever Keegan Thompson after a 10-pitch at-bat in the eighth to extend his season-long on-base streak to 27 games. Bogaerts, who reached safely in the final two games of the 2022 season, was 0 for 3 with a pair of strikeouts in his first three tries.

UP NEXT

Cubs: Chicago heads to Miami on Friday, where RHP Marcus Stroman (2-2, 2.17) will face LHP Jesus Luzardo (2-1 3.62).

San Diego will send RHP Joe Musgrove (1-0, 5.40) to face San Francisco LHP Sean Manaea (0-1, 6.61) on Saturday when they begin a two-game series in Mexico City. The Padres are the home team for the series.

---

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports

Copyright 2024 STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.