CHICAGO (Interstat) — A dominant, combined pitching effort and a timely home run from Manny Machado carried the San Diego Padres to a 3-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday evening at Wrigley Field, setting up a decisive final game of the regular season for both clubs.

In a crisp game that took just 2 hours and 54 minutes, the Padres’ quartet of Dylan Cease, Adrian Morejon, Mason Miller and Robert Suarez silenced the Cubs’ bats, allowing only four hits while striking out 11 before an announced crowd of 41,083.

The win improved the Padres’ record to 91-73, while the Cubs fell to 93-71. The two teams will meet again Thursday with their postseason positioning on the line.

San Diego struck first in the opening inning against Cubs starter Shota Imanaga. Fernando Tatis Jr. and Luis Arraez led off the game with back-to-back singles. After a strikeout, Jackson Merrill lifted a sacrifice fly to right field, allowing Tatis Jr. to score and give the Padres an early 1-0 lead.

The game remained a tight, one-run affair until the fifth inning, when the Padres provided their pitchers with a crucial cushion. Tatis Jr. worked a walk and was advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Arraez. Machado then stepped up and launched a two-run home run into the left-field bleachers, extending the San Diego lead to 3-0.

That was more than enough for the Padres’ pitching staff. Starter Dylan Cease was sharp, working 3 2/3 innings and allowing three hits while striking out five. He was lifted in the fourth inning after a double by Seiya Suzuki and an intentional walk, but Adrian Morejon entered and induced an inning-ending groundout to escape the jam.

Morejon earned the win, improving to 14-6, by tossing 2 1/3 perfect innings of relief with one strikeout. The Cubs’ Andrew Kittredge, who started the game as an opener, took the loss, falling to 4-4.

The Padres’ bullpen continued the dominance. Mason Miller was overpowering, striking out five of the six batters he faced over 1 2/3 hitless innings. Robert Suarez closed the door in the ninth, working around a one-out single by Kyle Tucker before inducing a game-ending double play from Seiya Suzuki. It was Suarez’s 41st save of the season.

The Cubs’ offense never threatened seriously, going 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position and stranding four runners on base. Imanaga took the brunt of the damage for Chicago, surrendering two runs on three hits over four innings of work.

The victory allowed the Padres to even the series after the Cubs took the opener 3-1 on Tuesday. The teams have split their six meetings this season. The result defied pregame projections, as the Cubs were installed as a -1.5 favorite and had a 53.3% probability to win according to Interstat’s ELO system. The total of three runs also went well under the over/under line of 6.5.