Busch's big breakout sets stage for Cubs' walk-off in 9th straight win

CHICAGO -- A day game after a night game, facing one of MLB’s best pitchers and trying to pull off the rare four-game sweep?

The Cubs were up for all challenges -- including multiple blown leads -- in Thursday afternoon's 8-7 win in 10 innings over the Phillies at Wrigley Field. It extended Chicago’s MLB-best nine-game winning streak while sending Philadelphia to its ninth straight loss.

Dansby Swanson drove in the winning run with a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Cubs a thrilling walk-off victory.

“A lot of good baseball,” said Ian Happ, who homered in the fourth inning and scored the winning run in the 10th. “It’s never easy to win nine in a row. A lot of things have to go right. I think we just showed today the resilience.”

Swanson was asked to describe this winning streak and several thoughts came to him.

“There’s a lot of words -- toughness comes to mind,” he said. “Professionalism, consistency, joy. I think this team just really enjoys playing together, playing this beautiful game that we get to play. Being a part of something. There’s too many positive adjectives to describe this group. Just incredibly grateful to be a part of it.”

The Cubs gave 31,057 fans a lot to cheer about on a beautiful, sunny afternoon, collecting 11 hits and five runs in the first four innings against Phillies ace and 2025 NL Cy Young runner-up Cristopher Sánchez.

The big blow came in the third inning when Michael Busch hit a three-run homer. Sánchez had been very successful against left-handed hitters this season, allowing just a .167 average and a .385 OPS. But Busch -- the lone lefty in the Cubs' lineup -- took advantage with a 421-foot shot to straightaway center field. It was the first home run Sánchez has allowed to a lefty this season.

It was the second straight game with a long ball for Busch, who had been homerless on the season until Wednesday night. The Cubs' first baseman drove in another run in the sixth inning on a groundout.

It's only the fifth time a lefty has homered off Sánchez in his six-year big-league career -- and just the second time since the beginning of the 2025 season.

After putting up back-to-back strong seasons with the Cubs in 2024-25, Busch entered this series against Philadelphia hitting just .164 with a .454 OPS. But he got a hit in all four games against the Phillies and drove in seven runs, with homers on back-to-back days.

The Cubs have stuck with Busch in the everyday lineup despite his early-season struggles.

“That home run off Cristopher Sánchez as a left-handed hitter, he doesn’t give up many of those,” manager Craig Counsell said. “ ... That takes a good hitter to do it. I know that. So you trust that part of it. You do what you can to try to get him going always. But eventually the talent’s gonna show itself.”

Happ added a solo blast of his own -- all the way onto Waveland Ave. in left field -- to give the Cubs some insurance in the fourth inning.

Cubs starter Edward Cabrera limited the Phillies to three earned runs in seven innings. The Phillies began their comeback in the seventh inning, however, when Brandon Marsh hit his second homer of the day and an Alex Bregman throwing error led to a pair of unearned runs. The Phillies then tied it in the eighth inning on an RBI single from pinch-hitter Edmundo Sosa.

After Seiya Suzuki put the Cubs back on top with a solo homer to lead off the bottom of the eighth inning, Adolis García tied it for the Phils once again with a solo blast in the ninth.

Busch helped out on the defensive end, too. He made a diving stop on Bryson Stott's hard ground ball to end the fourth inning, and then executed a difficult scoop on the other end of a jump-throw from Nico Hoerner in the fifth inning.

Even while Busch had been struggling offensively to begin the season, the Cubs knew they could count on his glovework at first base.

"In my mind, he's very underrated at first," bench coach Ryan Flaherty said before Thursday's game. "We talk about the Cubs' defense all the time, and [people] mention six or seven other guys. But he's been a rock over there for three straight years now, picking balls and balls hit at him. I think people just take it for granted. He certainly adds a ton of value over there with his glove."

Entering play Thursday, Busch was tied for the NL lead among first basemen with 2 Outs Above Average.

The Cubs (16-9) began their winning streak against the Phillies last Tuesday in Philadelphia. They now head to the West Coast for a road trip against the Dodgers and Padres -- two teams that entered play Thursday tied atop the NL West.