The Chicago Cubs celebrated the Fourth of July by putting on the biggest fireworks display in franchise history.
The Cubs hit a team-record eight home runs Friday — led by three from Michael Busch and two from Pete-Crow Armstrong — as they rolled to an 11-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in the opener of a three-game series at Wrigley Field.
“It was just a fun game to be a part of,” Busch said. “Baseball on July 4th, and especially to do it at Wrigley Field, to get out of here with a win and have so much excitement in the game, that’s one game I’ll never forget.”
Seiya Suzuki, Dansby Swanson and Carson Kelly also homered for the Cubs (53-35) on a day that turned out to be historically sweet after starting on a sour note.
Before the game, the Cubs placed starting pitcher Jameson Taillon on the 15-day injured list with a right calf strain, and manager Craig Counsell said he expects Taillon to be out “more than a month.” Jordan Wicks was recalled from Triple-A Iowa.
Taillon’s injury will again test the depth of the Cubs pitching staff, just eight days after they got lefty Shota Imanaga back from a hamstring injury that sidelined him for nearly two months.
Of course, it would help if the Cubs can continue to swing the bats with anywhere near the effectiveness they did Friday.
The eight home runs, which included six off Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas, featured three instances of the Cubs going back to back. Suzuki and Crow-Armstrong did it in the first, Busch and Kelly in the second and Swanson and Busch in the seventh.
Crow-Armstrong and Busch both blasted balls off the right-field video board in the third as well.
After Swanson tied the franchise record with the seventh homer of the day, Busch broke it five pitches later.
Busch, who is up to 17 homers on the season, became the first Cub to hit three in a game since Rafael Ortega against the Washington Nationals on Aug. 1, 2021.
“He’s turned into, really, a great offensive player,” Counsell said of Busch. “Last year it felt like there were ups and downs during the season. This year he’s lengthened out the ups and shortened the downs, essentially, and you end up with what you’ve seen.
“It’s a good hitter who’s continuing to get better.”
Busch and Crow Armstrong each went 4-for-4 as Crow-Armstrong raised his season total to 23 home runs, one behind Suzuki’s team-high 24.
Crow-Armstrong said the team expects to have offensive success on a daily basis. The Cubs rank second in the majors with 475 runs, trailing only the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, who had 494 entering Friday.
“Day in, day out, watching people’s processes and how they dig themselves out of little holes and all that, it’s nice to be able to join in on other people’s successes,” Crow-Armstrong said. “It’s really easy to appreciate what we’re doing right now. This is the best offense I’ve ever been a part of — ever seen.”
It was the rivals’ first meeting since a 3-0 Cubs win June 26 in St. Louis that ended with the benches clearing after closer Daniel Palencia and former Cub Willson Contreras exchanged words. Contreras was upset after getting hit by a pitch in the ninth inning.
Contreras, who apologized after that game, received a fair number of boos from the crowd before each at-bat Friday as he went 0-for-3.
While the Cubs were piling up runs, the Cardinals (47–42) — who had been shut out in three straight games by the Pittsburgh Pirates — managed just one hit through eight innings before scoring twice in the ninth on two hits with infielder Jon Berti on the mound for the Cubs.
Colin Rea (6-3) went 6⅔ innings for the win, allowing only Brendan Donovan’s homer in the fourth.
Rea’s strong outing was especially important ahead of what’s expected to be a bullpen day Saturday in the wake of the injury to Taillon, who had been scheduled to start. Drew Pomeranz will be the opener.
Going forward, Counsell said the Cubs could use Chris Flexen as a starter. Flexen made 30 starts for the Chicago White Sox last season and has revitalized his career in the Cubs bullpen this year, going 5-0 with an 0.62 ERA.
Counsell also noted the upcoming All-Star break will give the team short-term flexibility with its pitching staff.
As for Friday, though, there was plenty to celebrate. Busch, Crow-Armstrong, Suzuki, Swanson and Kelly posed for a postgame photo to mark the record occasion.
“You grow up dreaming of playing in the big leagues, and then to be able to get your name in Chicago Cub record books is pretty cool,” Busch said. “I’m going to need to get that photo signed by all those guys.”
