Having lost the opening two games of their series against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Chicago Cubs returned home on Wednesday night, needing a win to stay alive in the 2025 MLB Playoffs. Well, they did manage to survive, and did so in part thanks to a Tar Heel.
Former UNC baseball player Michael Busch played a big role on Wednesday, as the Cubs won 4-3 in Game 3 of the NLDS, staving off elimination and cutting their deficit down to 2-1. Busch homered in Chicago’s win, and considering the final margin,
it ended up being a much needed homer. Now, the Cubs will live to see Game 4 later today.
A win away from advancing on to the NLCS, the Brewers struck first, scoring a run in the top of the first inning. However, it didn’t long for Busch to return serve. Leading off the game for the Cubs, Busch worked the count full. On the sixth pitch of the at-bat, he got a pitch right down the middle and took full and complete advantage.
Busch’s leadoff home run evened the score after the Brewers’ first inning run could’ve been a huge blow to the spirit. Instead, they were back even, and Chicago immediately were boosted. The Cubs went on to score another three runs in the inning, taking a 4-1 lead. The Brewers got a couple runs back and threatened to rally a couple times throughout the game, but the Cubs ended up hanging on for a 4-3 win, staying alive in the series.
Besides just helping his team, Busch’s home run also made a little bit of baseball history. Having already started a game with a home run earlier in the series, he became the first player to ever hit two leadoff home runs in the same series.
He’s also only one of a handful of players to have two in the same postseason in total.
Even after all that work, the Cubs also have to win today to stay alive and force a decisive Game 5. Today at 9:08 PM ET, the Cubs and Brewers will play Game 4 in Chicago. If you’d like to watch Busch try and help his team to another win, the game will be on TBS tonight.
While UNC baseball has had several good MLB player alumni, Busch is already on track to finish quite high on that all-time list. He’s also already carving out a very nice postseason legacy.
