By MATT PIKE
The ball was flying at Wrigley Field as the Chicago Cubs set off the fireworks early on Independence Day, clobbering eight home runs, six off of St. Louis Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas, in an 11-3 blowout victory over the Redbirds.
In the bottom of the first inning the Cubs started the scoring with back to back home runs by Seiya Suzuki and Pete Crow-Armstrong, in the second inning Chicago went back to back again off of Mikolas to open the inning, Michael Busch hitting the first of his three home runs on the day, followed by former Cardinal Carson Kelly homering to left center field, giving Chicago a 4-0 lead.
In the third inning, Crow-Armstrong hit his second home run of the afternoon to lead off the inning, then after a single by Dansby Swanson, Busch hit his second home run to extend the lead even more for the Cubs. Trailing 7-0, Brendan Donovan joined the home run party in the fourth inning for the Cardinals with a solo home run to left center.
After not scoring in the fourth inning, Chicago got on the board again in the fifth, for the first time not on a home run, as Busch drove in his fourth run of the game with an RBI single, scoring Crow-Armstrong. In the seventh the home runs came again though, first by Dansby Swanson with a two run home run, driving in Crow-Armstrong, and then for the third time in the game the Cubs went back to back as Busch homered for the third time with a solo shot for the final run.
St. Louis added their final two runs in the ninth inning, Lars Nootbar singling home Garrett Hampson, who opened the inning with a double, and Nootbaar eventually coming around to score later in the inning on a bases loaded walk.
Mikolas took the loss, falling to 4-6 on the season, pitching six innings and giving up eight runs on ten hits while striking out four. The eight home runs were a new franchise record for the Cubs. At the plate, the Cardinals managed just three hits, Donovan going 1-for-3 with an RBI, Hampson going 1-for-1 with the double as a pinch hitter, and Nootbaar going 1-for-4 with an RBI. St. Louis was issued five walks by the Chicago pitchers.
St. Louis and Chicago continue their series tomorrow. Matthew Liberatore (6-6, 3.70 ERA) takes the mound for the Cardinals while the Cubs pitcher is currently listed as TBD. First pitch is at 1:20pm, coverage will be joined near the start at 1:10 on KY 102 (102.5 FM).
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.
