San Diegans have no snow to shovel, but they do have Padres hitters to keep them humble.

Once again inducing moans of agony from Oceanside to Baja when the game mattered most, Padres hitters came up short Thursday.

The result: another exasperating defeat that booted them from the World Series tournament.

On a warm night in the Midwest, Padres hitters all too often looked like they were plowing water in a 3-1 road loss to the Chicago Cubs . They struck out 11 times. They spelled RISP as RIP, getting no hits in eight at-bats with runners in scoring position.

The futility of Padres hitters in the Wild Card Series-ending performance recalled the offense’s failure to score last October against the Dodgers in the final two games of the Division Series, particularly the 2-0 defeat in the cl

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