{"id":99516,"date":"2025-09-27T22:20:39","date_gmt":"2025-09-27T22:20:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=99516"},"modified":"2025-09-27T22:20:39","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T22:20:39","slug":"busch-stars-as-the-cubs-beat-the-cardinals-7-3-to-clinch-the-top-nl-wild-card","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=99516","title":{"rendered":"Busch stars as the Cubs beat the Cardinals 7-3 to clinch the top NL wild card"},"content":{"rendered":"
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CHICAGO (AP) \u2014 Michael Busch homered twice and drove in four runs, and the Chicago Cubs clinched the top NL wild card with a 7-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Pete Crow-Armstrong and Seiya Suzuki also connected for Chicago in its third win in four games. Jameson Taillon (11-7) pitched six effective innings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Cubs (91-70) will host San Diego in the first round of the playoffs. Game 1 of the best-of-three series is on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It’s the first postseason appearance for Chicago since 2020.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Nolan Arenado and Jordan Walker homered for the Cardinals (78-83) in their third consecutive loss. Michael McGreevy (8-4) permitted three runs and six hits in 4 2\/3 innings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Busch drove McGreevy\u2019s first pitch deep to right-center for his fifth career leadoff homer. He doubled in the third and connected for a tiebreaking two-run shot in the fifth for his team-leading 34th homer. He added a run-scoring triple in the seventh before he was walked intentionally in the eighth.<\/p>\n

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Suzuki hit his 31st homer off Ryan Fernandez in the sixth. Suzuki and Busch each have three homers in their last two games.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Walker cut it to 4-3 with a two-run shot off Caleb Thielbar in the seventh. It was Walker’s sixth homer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Crow-Armstrong hit his 31st homer, a two-run drive, off the scoreboard in right in the eighth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Taillon allowed one run and three hits. He struck out eight and walked two.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Key moment<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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The Cardinals loaded the bases in the ninth on two singles and a walk. But Nathan Church struck out swinging against Brad Keller for the final out.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Key stat<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner went 0 for 5, lowering his batting average to .297, second among NL qualified batters behind Trea Turner of Philadelphia. Turner is batting .305 but has not played since Sept. 7 due to a hamstring injury.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Up next<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Both teams had yet to announce their starters for Sunday\u2019s regular-season finale.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO (AP) \u2014 Michael Busch homered twice and drove in four runs, and the Chicago Cubs clinched the top NL wild card with a 7-3 victory over… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":99517,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nBusch stars as the Cubs beat the Cardinals 7-3 to clinch the top NL wild card - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=99516\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Busch stars as the Cubs beat the Cardinals 7-3 to clinch the top NL wild card - 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