The Chicago Cubs nailed down home field for the upcoming Wild Card Series by defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 7-3 at Wrigley Field on Saturday. The victory confirms the No. 4 seed in the National League and sets up a best-of-three showdown with the San Diego Padres starting Tuesday.
The headline of the afternoon was Michael Busch, who turned in one of the most remarkable individual games of the 2025 season. The Cubs' first baseman went 4-for-4 with two home runs, a triple, a double, and four runs batted in. That combination made him the first player in franchise history since the early 1900s to collect multiple homers, a triple, and a double in the same contest. His effort also gave him 13 total bases, matching a career-high set on July 4, when he hit three home runs in another win against St. Louis.
Busch became just the sixth player in the past 125 years to post multiple games with at least 13 total bases in a single season, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com. The rare company includes Kyle Schwarber (2024), Alex Rodriguez (2005), Geronimo Berroa (1996), Joe Carter (1986), Willie Mays (1961), and Joe DiMaggio (1948).
Busch wasted no time, driving Cardinals starter Michael McGreevy’s first pitch into the seats for his fifth leadoff homer of 2025. It was also his 33rd home run of the season, making him just the third Cubs first baseman to reach that mark in a single year, joining Derrek Lee and Ernie Banks.
Later, his second home run gave the Cubs their 100th at Wrigley Field this season and ninth against the Cardinals personally, tying Busch with Hack Wilson (1929) and Banks (1955) for the most homers by a Cub in a single season versus St. Louis. Remarkably, Busch accomplished the feat in only 11 games against the Cardinals.
His triple in the seventh added another RBI and pushed the Cubs’ lead, but in the eighth, with Busch a single shy of the cycle, the Cardinals opted to intentionally walk him, drawing loud boos from the Wrigley crowd.
The Cubs’ offense also featured long balls from Seiya Suzuki (31st) and Pete Crow-Armstrong (31st), marking the eighth time this season the trio of Busch, Suzuki, and PCA homered in the same game. Chicago now holds its single-season record for home runs at Wrigley against the Cardinals with 19, surpassing the previous high of 17 set in 1954, 1955, and 1961.
On the mound, Jameson Taillon held down the fort through six quality innings, allowing just one run on three hits with eight strikeouts. He has been lights-out since returning from the injured list in September, posting a 1.54 ERA across 23.1 innings this month.
Thanks to Saturday’s win, the Cubs improved their Wrigley record to 49-31 and will take that home-field advantage into their first postseason series at home with fans since 2018. The Wild Card matchup will be their first against the Padres since the 1984 NLCS.
