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
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
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
It\u2019s the first postseason appearance for Chicago since 2020.<\/p>\n
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
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
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
Walker cut it to 4-3 with a two-run shot off Caleb Thielbar in the seventh. It was Walker\u2019s sixth homer.<\/p>\n
Crow-Armstrong hit his 31st homer, a two-run drive, off the scoreboard in right in the eighth.<\/p>\n
Taillon allowed one run and three hits. He struck out eight and walked two.<\/p>\n
Key moment<\/p>\n
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
Key stat<\/p>\n
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
Up next<\/p>\n
Both teams had yet to announce their starters for Sunday\u2019s regular-season finale.<\/p>\n
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