CHICAGO — It’s safe to say Michael Busch is having a playoff run for the ages.

With his solo shot in Wednesday’s pivotal Game 3 of the NL Division Series at Wrigley Field, the Cubs first baseman became the first player in MLB history to have multiple leadoff home runs in one postseason series.

It was Busch’s third home run of the postseason and followed his Game 1 leadoff shot in Milwaukee.

Wednesday’s homer tied the score after the Brewers — who entered with a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series — scratched across the first run on a sacrifice fly in the top half of the inning.

Busch proved to be the firestarter the Cubs needed in a win-or-go-home game: The hosts proceeded to tack on three more runs in the frame via Pete Crow-Armstrong’s two-out, bases-loaded single and a wild pitch that brought Ian Happ home.

Those four first-inning runs were all the Cubs needed to win 4-3 and force a Game 4 on Thursday night at Wrigley.

“To be able to set a tone like that — make that ballgame 0-0 — I think that’s so huge,” Crow-Armstrong said afterward. “The confidence we have in sending Buschy up there in any at-bat, it’s obviously very high. But the confidence that I have when Michael Busch leads off a ballgame is through the roof.”

Busch has served as the Cubs’ leadoff hitter since midway through the season, when he replaced Ian Happ in the role. Busch didn’t start in Game 2 of the NLDS, as veteran Justin Turner instead played first base against Milwaukee left-hander Aaron Ashby. Busch entered that game in the fourth inning when he pinch-hit for Turner.

Now, he’s become a thorn in the Brewers’ sides this series and established himself as one of the most dangerous hitters in the Cubs’ lineup.

“You can just tell by the way they manage the game, he’s become the guy in the lineup that everybody’s thinking about, and they’re doing their pitching around him,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said after the game. “That’s a credit to the player. It really is, you know, it’s not easy to do. He’s put us off to a great start in a whole bunch of these games.”

Brewers manager Pat Murphy had equal praise for Busch after his team’s loss.

“Busch, in particular — he’s come into his own,” Murphy said. “You’ve got to make pitches to him.”

Busch started his first career postseason 6-for-18 (.333) with three RBI, 15 total bases and a 1.233 OPS. The 27-year-old is building off a breakout 2025 campaign with the Cubs in which he slashed .261/.343/.523 (.866 OPS) with 34 home runs and 90 RBI in 155 games.

On Sept. 20, Busch became the first Cubs first baseman to hit 30 or more home runs in a season since Anthony Rizzo in 2017, and also joined Derrek Lee, Fred McGriff and Ernie Banks as the fifth first baseman in franchise history to hit that many in a season.