CHICAGO — It’s tough to set many new franchise records for the Cubs, an organization that’s been around since 1876, but Craig Counsell’s lineup got to work early against the Cardinals in Friday’s 11-3 win. Seiya Suzuki, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Michael Busch and Carson Kelly combined for six home runs — all off St Louis starter Miles Mikolas — in the first three innings at Wrigley Field.
Those half dozen homers set a Cubs record for the most in the first three innings of a game. Busch and Crow-Armstrong hit at least two apiece (Busch finished the day with three), which is the first time two Cubs players had two home runs in a game’s first three frames.
Suzuki and Crow-Armstrong went back-to-back in the first inning, Busch and Kelly did it again in the second, and Dansby Swanson and Busch yet again in the seventh inning. Those were the eighth, ninth, and tenth times the Cubs have gone back-to-back this season, the most recent being on June 28 in Houston.
In all, the Cubs set a new franchise record for home runs in a game with Friday’s eight blasts, surpassing their previous record of seven, a mark they last reached on August 1, 2023 against the Cincinnati Reds.
The Cubs offense climbed to third place in team home runs (133) with Friday’s longballs, trailing only the Dodgers and Yankees.
