3 Takeaways After Cubs Hit Record-Tying Number of Home Runs to Sweep Padres

Who is going to stop the Chicago Cubs?

Right now, no team is a match for how dangerous they've been. A 23-3 rout of the San Diego Padres (43-42) wrapped up a three-game sweep and notched the Cubs (49-38) their 15th win in their last 19 games.

They made a good bit of history in the process. Their 23 runs were the franchise's most scored in a game since 1995.

Cubs hitters crushed eight home runs, tying the franchise record that was set in a win over the St. Louis Cardinals on July 4, 2025.

Colin Rea was excellent behind the abundance of run support, tossing five innings of two-run ball and striking out five in the process.

Here are three things we learned from the Cubs' unforgettable performance!

Eight Is Great

Cubs fans may very well remember the Fourth of July last year. Michael Busch, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Seiya Suzuki, Carson Kelly, and Dansby Swanson all combined to hit eight home runs in an 11-3 win over St. Louis. That became the single-game franchise record, beating the seven that the club once hit in 1967.

On Wednesday, a few of those guys came back for more – notably Swanson, who hit three home runs in a game for the first time in his big-league career as the Cubs continued to add insult to injury in the 20-run win.

the tweets write themselves at this point. 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/HOuF5vYy4D
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 1, 2026

Suzuki, Crow-Armstrong and Busch —whose home run tied the record, just as it did last year -- re-etched their names in the record books. Michael Conforto added a multi-homer game of his own to round out the mini derby.

Baseball's Best?

Somehow, the Cubs finished the month of June with a 16-10 record, good enough for fifth-best in MLB.

How did your team do in June? 👀 pic.twitter.com/FYs3ELi09D
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) July 1, 2026

That now feels like quite the achievement, considering they were 32-28 on May 31 and in a freefall that was lasting weeks.

Part of what pulled them back up from the bottom of the barrel was Crow-Armstrong, who put on one of the best individual performances the league has seen in June.

Pete Crow-Armstrong of the @Cubs is one of three players in MLB history to have a month with:

.375+ batting average
.775+ slugging pct
80+ total bases
15+ walks
10+ home runs
5+ stolen bases

The others are Babe Ruth (June 1920, July 1920, May 1930) and Lou Gehrig (June 1930). pic.twitter.com/ud5bAyf4wq
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) July 1, 2026

If Swanson is doing Sammy Sosa things, enter Crow-Armstrong doing Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig things!

It's not crazy to say that Crow-Armstrong single-handedly lit the fire behind the Cubs and got them back on track. He's slashing an incredible .390/.469/.797 in his last 30 games. He's leading MLB in far too many stat categories over that time period. And now that other major cogs in the Cubs' lineup have gotten going, it feels like an even bigger surge is coming the Cubs' way.

The Cubs sit just five games back of the Milwaukee Brewers now and have sole possession of the top Wild Card spot.

Wednesday's 23-run performance may be an outlier on paper, but it was perhaps just a precursor to something massive brewing for a Cubs team that has already been through the highest highs and the lowest lows. They're well-equipped for it, but they just have to find consistency now.

A Century of Seiya

With the way Seiya Suzuki has been hitting the baseball lately, it was only a matter of time before he hit the milestone he'd been knocking on the door of.

Suzuki hit is 99th career home run in Milwaukee last weekend. On Wednesday, he hit No. 100.

The three-run blast was his 13th of the season, and he became just the fourth Japanese-born player in major league history to reach the century mark, joining Hideki Matsui, Ichiro Suzuki, and Shohei Ohtani.

Hideki. Ichiro. Shohei. Seiya.

Seiya Suzuki joins three Japanese legends who have hit 100+ MLB home runs! 💥 https://t.co/uyVaWdkySE pic.twitter.com/XpSguZO6kO
— MLB (@MLB) July 1, 2026

Even as the calendar turns to July, Suzuki isn't letting his foot off the gas. He's slashed .355/.371/.710 over his last seven games and his line for the season is up to an All-Star-worthy .274/.357/.466 (.823 OPS).

Coming Up Next

Just as it was last year, the Cubs will host the Cardinals over Fourth of July weekend.

The holiday weekend makes for some wacky start times. Friday's opener is set for 3:05 p.m. CT on Marquee Sports Network. Saturday's game is on FOX at 7:05 p.m., and the finale will air on Peacock and NBCSN Extra at 1:30 p.m. as part of NBC's 'Star-Spangled Sunday' event.

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