Cubs 11, Cardinals 3: Michael Busch and Pete Crow-Armstrong lead the team to a franchise record

Cubs home runs flew out of Wrigley Field as we have never seen them before.

The Cubs first hit seven home runs in a game at Wrigley Field in the second game of a doubleheader against the Mets June 11, 1967. Among the long-ball hitters that afternoon were Hall of Famers Ernie Banks and Ron Santo.

That franchise record had been tied three times, before Friday, when Cubs batters sent eight baseballs out of the yard against the Cardinals and demolished their longtime rivals 11-3.

I’ll get to all the various records and occurrences on this festive Fourth of July, but let’s take everything in chronological order first.

Colin Rea had a 1-2-3 first inning, helped in part by this fantastic diving catch by Pete Crow-Armstrong [VIDEO].

It’s really getting to the point where I almost expect him to make those plays. Per Statcast, that ball had an expected BA of .740 — meaning it’s a hit 74 percent of the time. More than that, though: Here is Statcast data saying PCA had just a five percent chance of making that catch [VIDEO].

PCA wasn’t done having a day, no siree.

With two out in the bottom of the first, Seiya Suzuki went deep [VIDEO].

That was Suzuki’s 24th, tying his career high — and we’re only 88 games into this season. He’s on pace for 44.

PCA batted next [VIDEO].

PCA and Suzuki have a friendly HR competition going. That was PCA’s 22nd. Keep it going, guys!

After Rea again had a 1-2-3 second, Michael Busch led off the bottom of the inning with a long ball [VIDEO].

That was immediately followed by Carson Kelly going deep [VIDEO].

Much more on that pair of back-to-backs from BCB’s JohnW53:

This is the Cubs’ 22,343rd regular-season game since 1876. It is just the 12th in which they hit back-to-back home runs twice.

The only previous one in which they hit them in consecutive innings was the very first — and it was on July 4, too, in 1895, at home vs. the Reds.

Cap Anson and Walt Wilmot homered in the third, then Bill Lange and Bill Everitt homered in the fourth.

On June 21, 2008, they hit back-to-back homers twice in the same inning: Jim Edmonds and Mike Fontenot with nobody out, then Aramis Ramirez and Edmonds with one out.

The back-to-back homers by Suzuki and Crow-Armstrong, then by Busch and Kelly, were the eighth and ninth pairs by the Cubs on the Fourth of July.

They did it once in 1884, twice in 1895 and once in 1913.

The only three subsequent times before today:

1963: Billy Williams and Ron Santo
1970: Williams and Jim Hickman
1977: George Mitterwald and Bobby Murcer

That’s quite the trip through Cubs history, I’d say.

The Cubs were not done hitting home runs, not at all. Rea again retired the side in order in the third, and then Cubs bats got to work again. PCA smashed another home run with one out in the bottom of the inning [VIDEO].

That ball was crushed! [VIDEO]

Chants of “MVP! MVP!” for PCA could be heard after that.

Dansby Swanson singled, the seventh Cubs hit but the first not for extra bases.

Busch took care of that with his second of the day [VIDEO].

That ball was demolished! [VIDEO]

We are only in the third inning, friends, and that’s six home runs off Miles Mikolas. That tied the MLB record for home runs allowed by one pitcher in a game, and I have to say I cannot think of a pitcher I’d rather see join that list than MIkolas. It’s just the 11th time a pitcher has allowed six homers in a game, and the most recent before now was by a Cub three years ago, Matt Swarmer. Here’s the full list before Friday:

Brendan Donovan homered leading off the fourth off Rea, but that was the only hit he allowed, plus a couple of walks, and he came one out short of finishing seven innings, an outstanding pitching performance. Here’s more on Rea’s outing [VIDEO].

Meanwhile, the Cubs added a run in the fifth. PCA singled with one out and took third on a ground ball by Swanson — yes, that’s right, went first-to-third on a routine out to short. The guy can do everything.

Busch singled him in to make it 8-1 [VIDEO].

The Cardinals, as noted, had a couple of runners on and two out in the seventh when Rea departed, due to a tough error charged to Busch. Caleb Thielbar entered and struck out Nolan Gorman to end that threat.

Then the Cubs put together another rally and smashed the team home run record. With two out in the seventh, PCA singled, his fourth hit of the game.

Swanson homered to tie the team record [VIDEO].

Busch followed with his third of the day, the Cubs’ third pair of back-to-back jacks, and the franchise record fell [VIDEO].

Summing all that up is BCB’s JohnW53:

The Cubs had played 22,342 previous regular-season games without hitting an eighth home run. They had hit seven four times, all at home:

June 11, 1967, vs. the Mets (Cubs won, 18-10)
Aug. 19, 1970, vs. the Padres (12-2)
May 17, 1977, vs. the Padres (23-6)
Aug. 1, 2023, vs. the Reds (20-9)

This was the 41st game since 1901 in which a Cub hit three homers. Busch was the first to do it since Rafael Ortega at Washington on Aug. 1, 2021. The last to do it at home was Dioner Navarro, against the White Sox on May 29, 2013.

Busch is the 26th different Cubs player with a three-homer game. Six had more than one: Sammy Sosa (5); Ernie Banks, Dave Kingman and Aramis Ramirez (3); and Kris Bryant and Alfonso Soriano (2).

More on Cubs three-homer games vs. the Cardinals:

I’ll add to this note: In the 2023 game, the last two of the Cubs’ seven homers were hit off a position player, Luke Maile of the Reds. Patrick Wisdom and Miguel Amaya took Maile deep. Still, home runs are home runs, no matter who the pitcher is.

With an 11-1 lead, Craig Counsell sent Jon Berti to the mound in the ninth, trying to save the bullpen. It was amusing at first, with Berti throwing 50 mile per hour pitches that Gameday called “sliders” (hint: those are not sliders).

But the Cardinals kept getting hits and walks, and eventually scored two runs. It might have been worse if not for this athletic play by Berti [VIDEO].

It got to the point that Counsell had Ryan Brasier start warming up. Fortunately, Berti did finally retire the side and end the game [VIDEO].

That was great fun, and even better to do it against the Cardinals. Here’s my scorecard from this historic afternoon (click here for a larger version):

Let’s not forget about Rea’s great outing in this game, and the fact that the Cubs only used two relief pitchers, Thielbar (who threw only three pitches) and Porter Hodge (who threw a 1-2-3 eighth with two strikeouts). That should set things up well for the rest of the series.

As you now know, Saturday’s scheduled starter, Jameson Taillon, hit the IL Friday with a calf injury apparently suffered during a workout. He could miss “significant” time, Craig Counsell told reporters pre-game. Jordan Wicks was recalled from Triple-A Iowa to take Taillon’s spot on the active roster. Wicks last threw on Sunday, so he could conceivably start Saturday, but Counsell indicated it will be a bullpen game, starter TBD at this writing. Here are more details (Bluesky link):

Matthew Liberatore will go for the Cardinals Saturday. Game time is 1:20 p.m. and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.