SAN DIEGO (AP) — Pete Crow-Armstrong hit his third home run of the season and drove in three runs to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 5-4 win over the San Diego Padres on Wednesday.
The Cubs have won 12 of their last 15 games.
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Chicago Cubs' Michael Conforto, left, slides in to score off an RBI groundout by Pete Crow-Armstrong as San Diego Padres catcher Luis Campusano is late with the tag during the sixth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Chicago Cubs shortstop Nico Hoerner throws to first too late as San Diego Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. arrives safely with a single during the sixth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jameson Taillon works against a San Diego Padres batter during the fourth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
San Diego Padres' Nick Castellanos, right, celebrates with teammate Fernando Tatis Jr. after hitting a two-run home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Chicago Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong watches his RBI groundout during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Crow-Armstrong’s homer was a two-run shot down the right-field line in the fourth to give the Cubs a 3-0 lead.
Cubs starter Jameson Taillon (2-1) did not allow a baserunner through the first 4 2/3 innings. The Padres broke through on a solo home run to left field by Miguel Andujar, a walk by Jake Cronenworth, and a two-run blast to left by Nick Castellanos to tie the game 3-3 in the fifth.
Taillon gave up three runs, three hits and struck out six in seven innings.
Chicago reliever Hoby Milner earned his first save.
Padres starter Matt Waldron pitched five innings, giving up three runs and six hits. Reliever Adrian Morejon (2-1) gave up a run in 2/3 of an inning.
Matt Shaw had a solo homer to left in the eighth to give the Cubs a 5-3 lead.
The Padres had a prime chance in the eighth after Corbin Martin walked three straight batters to leadoff the inning. Ben Brown came in and gave up a sacrifice fly to Fernando Tatis Jr. and then induced Manny Machado into an inning-ending ground ball double play to preserve the Cubs' 5-4 lead.
Padres manager Craig Stammen missed the game to attend a funeral, handing over the acting manager role to bench coach Randy Knorr. Stammen is expected to be back for the Padres against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday.
Chicago: The Cubs had yet to name a starter for the opener of their three-game home set against the Diamondbacks.
San Diego: RHP Germán Márquez (3-1, 4.38 ERA) is slated for the Padres in the opener of a three-game home series against the Chicago White Sox on Friday night.
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Chicago Cubs' Michael Conforto, left, slides in to score off an RBI groundout by Pete Crow-Armstrong as San Diego Padres catcher Luis Campusano is late with the tag during the sixth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Chicago Cubs shortstop Nico Hoerner throws to first too late as San Diego Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. arrives safely with a single during the sixth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jameson Taillon works against a San Diego Padres batter during the fourth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
San Diego Padres' Nick Castellanos, right, celebrates with teammate Fernando Tatis Jr. after hitting a two-run home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Chicago Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong watches his RBI groundout during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
NEW YORK (AP) — Scottish entrepreneur Mike Welch made his fortune as an online tire retailer. But he says he might've traded that lucrative career for one in funeral services if not for an intervention from the charity of King Charles III.
A dyslexic teenager from a working-class background, Welch struggled with his college entry exams and took a job installing tires after leaving school at age 15. When he lost that gig, he lined up at the Liverpool job center. The job board featured a funeral director's listing — a “great career," he's sure, but “pretty grim" — and an advertisement for a charity event where entrepreneurs could win business grants.
Welch took that one and, less than 24 hours later, found himself inside a church filled with vintage furniture and friendly grandparents. It looked nothing like ABC's “Shark Tank," but he recalls feeling very much like one of the reality show's contestants as he described his proposal to sell cheaper tires to niche customers like his friends who drove souped-up cars.
That was Welch's first interaction with the then-Prince's Trust, which became known as The King's Trust when King Charles III became Britain's ruling monarch in 2023. “It wasn’t a well thought out plan, really,” said Welch, who is now based in Florida. “But they backed me. And they backed my enthusiasm. And they gave me a chance.”
Generations of Brits can tell stories similar to Welch, thanks to The Prince's Trust and The King's Trust, which have been supporting young people launch their careers since 1976, when then-Prince Charles took his Royal Navy severance pay and established the charity at a time of great economic distress for the United Kingdom. In the past 50 years, the King's Trust says it has reached more than 1.3 million young Brits through its education and employment initiatives, creating numerous success stories including those of celebrated actor Idris Elba and noted fashion designer Ozwald Boateng.
As Charles and Queen Camilla continued their first state visit to the U.S. since he became king, they nodded to The King's Trust with a gala Wednesday in New York, as the charity works to deepen its impact in more than two dozen countries including the United States. Attendees included Anna Wintour, Charlotte Tilbury, Donatella Versace, Lionel Richie and Martha Stewart.
At the event, Charles emphasized that “potential and latent talent truly knows no bounds once you help develop it.”
“I won't see the long-distance future,” he told attendees. "But I'm enormously grateful to you all for what you can all do as supporters to help this vital endeavor, to champion the next generation, ensuring their talent and ambition continue to strengthen our societies for many years to come.”
Members of the British Royal Family have traditionally served as patrons of charities, boosting awareness and fundraising for existing organizations in the areas where they rule as nobles. Observers say Charles' lasting interest in young people's employment is evident as he continues lending his title to its expanding work.
The trust's programs reach young people through schools and established nonprofit partners. They include Get Hired, which helps young people land their first jobs, and the Development Awards, a grant that helps them afford purchases to advance their careers such as a laptop or professional clothing.
The Enterprise Challenge is an afterschool program where students develop businesses that address a problem in their community.
“What we see every time is that young people want to be helped. They want to be taken seriously,” said Jeremy Green, a trustee of the King’s Trust Group Company and chair of the King’s Trust USA. "And it’s not just giving them money. It’s giving them opportunity.”
LaKenya Sharpe, principal of The Collins Academy High School in the Chicago neighborhood of North Lawndale, said being taken seriously by such an organization has meant the world to her students. They won King's Trust US' Enterprise Challenge for launching a business that grows and sells fresh vegetables to stores in their area, which lacked access to stores that sold produce.
The “babies” in her community often feel as if no one pays attention to them, she said.
“This shows that they can achieve anything," Sharpe added. "Their belief now is ‘Oh, other people are watching. Other people are seeing this.’ And they ask "How far can this go?" My answer is, “It can go as far as you guys take it. Don’t let anything limit you.'”
Wednesday's gala aims to showcase “the very best of British-American philanthropy through the individual arts, culture, investments between the two countries,” according to The King’s Trust USA CEO Victoria Gore.
The gala arrives at a moment of unusual tension between the elected leaders of the two longstanding allies. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s refusal to support the United States’ war in Iran has angered President Donald Trump.
Charles noted the “wonderful opportunity” to celebrate “the enduring cultural bond” between the two countries, whose relationship he said is “rooted in shared creativity, enterprise and values.”
“Reminding us we are truly greater together. That's the point,” Charles told attendees.
The trust’s leaders emphasized they'd been planning anniversary celebrations long before the recent rift. But Charles' emphasis on the country’s deep philanthropic ties could serve as a reminder of their shared interests, said JP Tribe, a senior lecturer in law at the University of Liverpool who has written about royal patronages.
Tribe hoped the gala showed “that both countries have and can continue to engage in very positive public benefit activity that helps the most disadvantaged in our society.”
The King's Trust US has set a goal to reach 1,000 young people in the United States this year.
Their biggest partner in that effort is City Year, the education nonprofit that introduced The Collins Academy to The King’s Trust and sends young adults to help teach in schools nationwide. AmeriCorps members are helping them pilot a version of the “Get Hired” program. They're also relying on the nonprofit Per Scholas and Maryland school districts to test some other programs.
Gore said student participants tend to be very focused on their immediate communities. The goal is to show them they can have an impact where they live.
"Keeping employment in communities and keeping people in communities is actually the key to everyone’s success," Gore said.
Welch said it doesn't require giant investments to make an impact. He received a 500 pound ($677) grant and, perhaps more importantly, a mentor who provided office space for the nascent company that he’d eventually sell for 50 million pounds ($68 million) to Michelin.
He said the blueprint for The King's Trust's expansion to succeed already exists. It's just a matter of building relationships with on-the-ground partners who can reach the people with the most need.
“What we see in Chicago, what we see in Orlando, is really no different -- with obvious local nuances," said Welch, who launched his latest venture the Anglo Atlantic advisory and investment firm. "But it’s not very different to what we see in Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester.”
Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.
Lionel Richie speaks with Britain's King Charles III during a cultural reception Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, Pool)
Britain's King Charles III speaks during a cultural reception Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, Pool)
Britain's King Charles III speaks with Christian Turner, British ambassador to the United States, during a garden party at the British Embassy, Monday, April 27, 2026, in Washington. (Roberto Schmidt/Pool via AP)
Britain's King Charles III meets with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, April 28, 2026, in Washington, during a State Visit. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
