The Chicago Cubs rolled over the rival St. Louis Cardinals on Friday afternoon, taking full advantage of the July 4 holiday at Wrigley Field. The Cubs won 11-3, hitting eight home runs in all, including three from first baseman Michael Busch.
Busch now has 17 blasts on the season, to go along with 55 RBIs. His three-homer day also put him in some wild baseball history, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com:
Cubs with a 3-homer game vs the Cardinals:
7/4/25 Michael Busch
7/4/03 Moises Alou
7/4/39 Hank Leiber
ALL ON JULY FOURTH!!!! BASEBALL !!!!
Busch went 4-for-4 with three runs scored and five RBIs, raising his average to .288 for the season. Acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers before the 2024 campaign, he's become a solid part of one of the best lineups in the league. He pairs with Kyle Tucker, Seiya Suzuki and Pete Crow-Armstrong in that lineup, which has the Cubs as a World Series contender.
They enter play on Saturday at 53-35 and in first place in the National League Central. They last won the World Series in 2016.
The Cardinals dropped to 47-42 with the defeat, and they are in third place in the division.
The two teams will play again on Saturday afternoon with first pitch coming at 2:20 p.m. ET. Left-hander Drew Pomeranz will open the game for the Cubs, while Matthew Liberatore pitches for St. Louis.
Pomeranz is 2-1 with a 0.00 ERA since being acquired from the Seattle Mariners. Liberatore is 6-6 with a 3.70 ERA.
