Before the Chicago Cubs turned a Wednesday afternoon into a historic home run show, Seiya Suzuki made some history of his own. His three-run homer in the first inning gave Chicago a fast lead over the San Diego Padres and pushed him to 100 career Major League home runs. With that swing, Suzuki joined Hideki Matsui, Ichiro Suzuki and Shohei Ohtani as the only Japanese-born players to reach the mark. More impressively, he became the first right-handed Japanese-born hitter to do it. The ball traveled a Statcast-projected 426 feet into the left-center field bleachers, and it set the tone for a 23-3 Cubs rout that soon grew beyond a normal box score. Chicago tied a franchise record with eight home runs, swept the Padres and gave Suzuki a milestone afternoon with personal, team and historical weight.
Suzuki carves out his own place in Japanese MLB history
Suzuki did not just add his name to a list. He changed the shape of it.
Matsui reached 175 MLB home runs with a left-handed swing built for damage. Ichiro reached 117 while turning contact, speed and precision into a Hall of Fame career. Ohtani has already cleared the milestone with a power profile that stands apart in modern baseball.
Suzuki arrived in the majors from Hiroshima with his own track record. He hit 182 home runs across nine seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball, then signed with the Cubs as a polished hitter with power, discipline and enough bat speed to punish mistakes. His 100th MLB homer showed exactly that.
Walker Buehler left a sweeper in a place Suzuki could handle. Suzuki did not miss it. The swing was clean, direct and violent enough to send the ball well beyond the ivy.
For Suzuki, the milestone meant more because of what it could show players still coming behind him. He knows Japanese hitters are often judged against familiar molds. This one broke from that pattern.
Seiya Suzuki: “It just shows them that you can do it, and I think that makes me the happiest.”
That line mattered because Suzuki did not treat the moment as a personal coronation. He framed it as proof. A right-handed hitter from Japan can come to MLB, survive the adjustments and still reach a serious power marker.
The Cubs turned a milestone into a rout
Suzuki’s homer opened the scoring, but the afternoon quickly became a demolition.
Chicago finished with 23 runs, 17 hits and eight home runs. Dansby Swanson had the loudest individual line, hitting three home runs and driving in eight runs. Michael Conforto homered twice. Pete Crow-Armstrong and Michael Busch also went deep. The Cubs kept adding on until the game moved from comfortable win to franchise-record territory.
San Diego had no answer. Buehler allowed nine runs in four innings. Later, catcher Rodolfo Duran had to pitch the final two innings and gave up eight runs. For the Padres, the 20-run margin marked the worst loss in franchise history.
By the late innings, Wrigley no longer felt like a normal regular-season game. Every deep fly brought a quick rise from the seats. Fans stood with phones out, laughed at the scoreboard and waited for the next ball to test the bleachers. The noise had the loose edge of batting practice, only with real damage attached to every swing.
This was the kind of game that can warp a season’s rhythm for both clubs. Chicago extended a winning streak and gave its lineup another jolt. San Diego took the final blow in a three-game sweep at Wrigley Field.
Machado’s ricochet added a strange twist
A 23-3 game already had enough absurdity. Then Suzuki got hit in the forehead by a ball off the wall.
In the fifth inning, Manny Machado lifted a deep drive to right field. Suzuki tracked it near the brick wall, but the ball caromed back and struck him squarely in the forehead. Trainers checked him for several minutes. He stayed in the game.
Suzuki later laughed it off, saying it hurt but that he was okay. That mattered. A milestone day should not turn into an injury story, and the Cubs avoided that concern after a strange and uncomfortable moment.
The ball exchange gave the day its human finish
After the game, Suzuki got the milestone ball back.
The fan who caught his 100th home run ball met him for a simple exchange. Suzuki handed over one of his bats, and the ball returned to the player whose swing had sent it into the seats. It was a small moment, but it gave the afternoon a cleaner ending than the box score alone could provide.
A blowout can become cold on paper. This one did not. The ball trade gave Suzuki a keepsake from a career marker, while the fan walked away with a story and a bat from the hitter who had just made Japanese baseball history.
Suzuki’s power surge comes at the right time
The timing of the homer mattered for more than the record.
Suzuki had been working back from a right-knee issue, and his power had dipped at first. In his first eight games after tweaking the knee, he slugged .375. Entering Wednesday, he had slugged .714 across his previous five games.
This is not just a hot streak. Suzuki pointed to small changes from game to game and at-bat to at-bat. He has been working with the hitting coaches to square up pitches in the zones he wants. That matters more than any broad talk about momentum.
Chicago needs that version of him. When Suzuki is driving mistakes, the middle of the Cubs order becomes harder to navigate. Pitchers cannot simply work around one hitter. They have to deal with traffic, power and a lineup that just showed how quickly it can turn a game sideways.
Fans immediately celebrated the milestone online. Some focused on Suzuki reaching a mark shared by Japanese icons. Others shifted straight to the bigger picture, calling for the front office to capitalize while the lineup looks alive.
The 23-run outburst will dominate the highlight reels, but Suzuki’s blast gave the afternoon its lasting meaning. Chicago produced a record-tying power show. Suzuki gave it a place in Japanese baseball history.
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FAQS
1. Who did Seiya Suzuki join with his 100th MLB home run?
Suzuki joined Hideki Matsui, Ichiro Suzuki and Shohei Ohtani as Japanese-born MLB players with 100 career home runs.
2. What record did Seiya Suzuki set?
He became the first right-handed Japanese-born hitter to reach 100 MLB home runs.
3. What was the Cubs score against the Padres?
The Cubs beat the Padres 23-3 at Wrigley Field.
4. How many home runs did the Cubs hit in the game?
Chicago hit eight home runs, tying a franchise record.
5. Did Seiya Suzuki leave after the ricochet hit him?
No. Trainers checked him, and he stayed in the game after saying he was OK.
I live for the roar of the crowd, the rush of a new city, and the kind of moments that turn into lifelong memories. Sports keep me energized, travel keeps me grounded, and every journey gives me a fresh story to tell.
