BOX SCORE

CHICAGO — There you have it: Playoff baseball will return to Wrigley Field.

The Cubs’ 7-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday at last ensured they will have home-field advantage in the best-of-three NL Wild Card Series and host the San Diego Padres beginning Tuesday.

It took a career day from Michael Busch, a lights-out pitching performance from Jameson Taillon, and a renewed Seiya Suzuki-Pete Crow-Armstrong home run rivalry to get the Cubs (91-70) the series win over the Cardinals (78-83) and bring October baseball back to Chicago.

Here are three things we learned in the game:

Jamo to the rescue

Looking ahead to the Cubs’ possible NL Wild Card Series rotation, it seemed Matthew Boyd, Cade Horton and Shota Imanaga would fill those three slots. That would have saved Jameson Taillon for Game 1 of the NLDS, should the Cubs advance.

But just before Saturday’s first pitch, the Cubs received devastating injury news: Cade Horton went on the 15-day injured list with a right rib fracture.

That means Horton will miss the wild-card series and likely will not be able to return until Game 5 of the NLDS. It also means Taillon could start in Horton’s place next week. 

The good thing for the Cubs is the veteran right-hander really has hit his stride since returning from the 15-day IL (groin) on Sept. 10. Entering Saturday, Taillon had allowed just three earned runs over 17.1 innings pitched (1.56 ERA) over his three starts in September.

And in his final regular-season start Saturday, Taillon stepped up and delivered what he’s shown he’s capable of over the past month. 

Taillon threw six strong innings, the only damage to his line coming on Nolan Arenado’s solo homer in the fourth. The Cardinals managed just two other hits off Taillon, and the 33-year-old fanned eight hitters while walking just two.

Taillon also lowered his ERA this month to 1.54, allowing just four earned runs over 23.1 innings. 

He posted a 3.68 ERA in 129.2 innings over 23 starts this season, with 98 strikeouts and a 1.02 WHIP. 

The No. 1 pick

Michael Busch hit leadoff for the 51st time this year. That’s where he has slotted into the Cubs’ lineup the most this season, typically against right-handed starters. 

Busch’s splits versus righty starters compared to lefties entering Saturday were night and day:

vs. RH SP (447 AB): .268/.347/.526 (.873 OPS), 139 OPS+

vs. LH SP (70 AB): .186/.288/.371 (.659 OPS), 85 OPS+

He only needed one pitch to show why he has become Cubs manager Craig Counsell’s go-to guy at that spot.

Busch sent Cardinals righty Michael McGreevy’s first offering of the game straight out to the right field bleachers, putting the Cubs ahead in the fastest way he could on his 33rd homer of the season. 

In Busch’s next at-bat, he roped a double into the left-center gap.

In his third at-bat, he homered again.

And in his fourth at-bat, he tripled to collect his fourth RBI and make it a 4-for-4 day.

Busch had a chance at the cycle in his final plate appearance, but much to the chagrin of the 38,000-plus in the stands, the Cardinals intentionally walked him.

Now that the Cubs are certain to host the Padres, here’s the good news for Busch: The Padres’ top three starters (Nathan Pivetta, Dylan Cease and Yu Darvish) are right-handed. 

That means Busch can slot right into the leadoff spot for all three of those games if necessary, and the 27-year-old heating up at the right time could make all the difference for this Cubs offense. 

‘Step Brothers’ return

Seiya Suzuki and Pete Crow-Armstrong are back to doing what they do best: homering in the same game.

It happened Friday, for the first time in a long time. Then it happened again Saturday, marking the eighth time this season.

Suzuki’s struggles over the past month and a half have been well-documented, but the Cubs’ Japanese slugger has managed to put all that behind him and become the best version of himself in time for the postseason.

Fresh off a two-homer game Thursday and a grand slam Friday, Suzuki clubbed his 31st home run of the season in the sixth inning Saturday. It was his 102nd RBI of the season, coming one day after he became the third Japanese player to hit 30 home runs in a season.

Crow-Armstrong’s drought was similar. But one day after he reached a 30-home run, 30-double, 30-stolen base season, he crushed his 31st home run of the year off the right-field scoreboard to extend the Cubs’ late-inning lead and all but put the nail in the Cardinals’ coffin.

Busch heating up is one thing, but if Suzuki and Crow-Armstrong can do the same, it would mirror the middle of the order’s early season dominance that set up the Cubs for playoff baseball in the first place.