Cubs win top NL wild card, host Padres in best-of-three at Wrigley

The Chicago Cubs clinched the top National League wild card over the weekend, sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals and locking up a best-of-three series against the San Diego Padres that begins Tuesday at Wrigley Field. Michael Busch homered twice and drove in four runs in a 7-3 victory Saturday that sealed the wild-card berth, and Seiya Suzuki homered in his fourth straight game as the Cubs completed a three-game sweep with a 9-0 win Sunday.

Busch opened Saturday by homering on the first pitch he saw and added a two-run shot later in the game, finishing with a double and a run-scoring triple in the seventh. Jameson Taillon worked six effective innings, allowing one run and three hits while striking out eight. Nolan Arenado and Jordan Walker hit solo homers for St. Louis in their third straight loss. The game ended when Cardinals rookie Nathan Church struck out swinging for the final out.

Chicago carried that momentum into Sunday. Javier Assad held the Cardinals scoreless into the sixth, striking out six and allowing three hits over 5 1/3 innings. Suzuki’s homer, part of a late-season surge in which he hit five homers and drove in 10 runs across four games, pushed his season totals...