Busch's monster day ensures that Cubs will host Wild Card Series

CHICAGO – After the Cubs uncorked the bottles of champagne in Pittsburgh during their last road trip – celebrating clinching the franchise’s first postseason berth in five years – the ballclub began to turn its attention to the next goal. The team wanted to bring October baseball back to Wrigley Field.

On Saturday afternoon, Michael Busch belted a pair of homers in a four-hit showing to help make that happen via a 7-3 victory over the rival Cardinals at the Friendly Confines. With the win, the Cubs averted a cross-country flight to San Diego, instead earning the right to host the best-of-three National League Wild Card Series, beginning on Tuesday.

“Being able to give these fans October baseball, that’s going to be real special,” Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong said this week. “We know how to play ball here. We love embracing everything that comes with this place.”

The win helped the Cubs (91-70) increase their cushion over the Padres (88-72) to 2 1/2 games for the NL’s top Wild Card spot with only one game left in the regular-season slate. Chicago also hosted a Wild Card Series in 2020, but with no fans in attendance. The last packed house at Wrigley for a playoff game was in ‘18, when the Cubs took on the Rockies in the Wild Card Game.

“I’m excited to be a part of it,” Busch said. “There’s no better fan base than the city of Chicago. They’ve been so good to us all year.”

Busch powered the North Siders to the win column with the third multihomer performance of his career, launching home runs Nos. 33 and 34 on the year. The Cubs’ first baseman slugged a leadoff shot off Cardinals righty Michael McGreevy in the first inning and added a two-run blast off the starter in the fifth.

Busch also doubled into the left-center-field gap in the third inning and knocked in a run with a triple deep into the right-center-field gap in the seventh. In total, he finished a single short of a cycle and with 13 total bases. Busch became the first player in Cubs history to have a pair of games with at least 13 total bases in the same season. He also had 13 in his three-homer outburst against the Cardinals on July 4.

Per MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, Busch’s performance marked only the 30th individual game in the Majors with a double, a triple and two home runs in the past 125 seasons. To put that into perspective, there have been 306 cycles in that same span.

Langs noted that Busch was one of only seven players to have two games in a season with 13-plus total bases. He is the first to do so against the same opponent.

“Michael Busch Day, for sure,” said McGreevy.

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In the eighth inning, the Cardinals intentionally walked Busch – denying him the opportunity to hit for a cycle – bringing on a loud chorus of boos from the Wrigley faithful.

“Rightfully, it was not met with friendliness from the home crowd,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “But it’s just a baseball decision.”

Busch shrugged it off.

“Selfishly, I wanted the at-bat,” Busch said. “But there’s nothing better than the victory itself.”

Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson said he understood the decision, but he still wished St. Louis had let Busch take another swing.

“I hate that we obviously didn’t get a chance at some history today for him,” Swanson said. “I hate it for Buschy. But I guess I’d be a little bit sick of watching him hit a lot of homers and all that kind of stuff, too.”

In 11 games against St. Louis this year, Busch has turned in a .467/.510/1.222 slash line with nine home runs, five doubles and 17 RBIs. His nine homers against the Cardinals equal a single-season franchise record for a Cubs batter, joining Hall of Famers Ernie Banks (1955) and Hack Wilson (1929) on that short list. Busch is also the first player bearing that name to homer in Busch Stadium, the Cardinals’ home ballpark.

Seiya Suzuki also got in on the action on Saturday, clubbing a solo homer in the sixth inning for the North Siders. The Cubs’ right fielder has homered in three consecutive games – piling up four in that stretch – to run his season total up to 31 blasts. And then in the eighth inning, Pete Crow-Armstrong sent a pitch off the right-field scoreboard for a two-run shot, his 31st of the year as well.

That offensive showing backed a solid effort from Cubs veteran Jameson Taillon, who limited the Cardinals to one run over six innings. As things currently are lined up, Taillon looks like the potential Game 3 starter for the Cubs if the NL Wild Card Series against the Padres were to go the distance.

One thing is for certain: The Cubs will be playing at home.

“It’s a really good feeling,” Counsell said. “To me, it’s mostly about the people that support us for 81 games being able to see us play again. That’s really important and that’s really special. Of course, as a team, we wanted to play here. It’s Wrigley. It’s home.”