Alex Bregman started August without a three-homer game in his career.
Amid a scorching stretch, Bregman ended the month with his lifetime total sitting at two. His second three-homer game within the last three weeks Monday night capped a high-powered August for the Chicago Cubs.
The Cubs slugged a franchise-record nine home runs in a 17-3 blowout win over the Milwaukee Brewers at Wrigley Field, putting an exclamation point on a stellar month of power production. They finished August with 62 home runs, second in MLB history for any month dating to 1898 — behind only the 2019 New York Yankees (74 in April) — and a National League record for the most in a month.
Bregman is one of four Cubs to record multiple three-homer games in a season, joining Aramis Ramírez (two in 2004), Sammy Sosa (three in 2001) and Dave Kingman (two in 1979).
“The quality of at-bat in the second half, it’s been super consistent up and down the lineup, and it’s been tough on opposing teams,” Bregman said. “Guys are battling, knowing what kind of player they are, and putting together a really good at-bat.
“Overall, in general, a good start to the series. Once the clock hits midnight, it’s a new day and get after it again tomorrow.”
The Cubs (78-60) feasted on Brewers starter Kyle Harrison’s fastball. Their first seven runs came off the lefty’s heater, helping them build a 9-0 advantage through four innings.
Tyrone Taylor (two-run homer), Nico Hoerner (solo homer) and Carson Kelly (RBI single) gave starter Clay Holmes a four-run lead to work with after the first. Then Bregman (two-run homer) added on in the second, and the runs kept coming in the fourth thanks to Seiya Suzuki (solo homer), another Bregman long ball (solo) and Miguel Amaya’s bases-loaded walk.
The Brewers eventually turned to first baseman Andrew Vaughn to pitch the final two innings, and the Cubs punished him, knocking in seven runs, including three home runs.
Holmes, meanwhile, cruised through six shutout innings with five hits and two walks allowed to accompany eight strikeouts. The muggy weather made it tough at times to get a good grip on his sinker, but he still managed to get 11 called strikes with the pitch and used it to finish off two of his strikeouts.
In his last four starts, Holmes has surrendered just one run in 25 innings (0.36 ERA).
More Top Picks Free Dyslexia Screening Tools You Can Use At Home
“You could kind of feel their energy,” Holmes said of the offense. “After a couple series that we lost, you could tell that the position-player group really wants to come out strong, and you can feel that.
“And to be able to put a zero up there in the first and let them do their thing was nice. Especially pitching to a contact-oriented team and you have that lead, that makes that a little better.”
Bregman and NL MVP front-runner Pete Crow-Armstrong became the first teammates to combine for at least 25 home runs, 25 walks, 50 RBIs and 50 runs scored in a month since the Yankees’ Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle in July 1961, per OptaSTATS.
They are also the first pair of Cubs teammates to each hit at least 12 home runs in a month and the first MLB teammates to accomplish the feat since the Texas Rangers’ Rafael Palmeiro and Iván Rodríguez in August 1999.
“He is relentless,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said of Bregman. “In his preparation and in the daily grind, he’s just relentless.”
Monday kick-started a 10-day stretch that will determine whether the Cubs can contend for the NL Central title. The Cubs and Brewers square off seven times in that span, with Monday’s victory putting the North Siders seven games behind first-place Milwaukee.
Despite their record-setting long balls, the Cubs finished August with a 16-12 record and were unable to put much pressure on the Brewers.
“We get 13 chances to play the Brewers, and then other than that, we don’t have any control of the Brewers. They’ve got to go play their games, and we go play our games,” Counsell said before the game. “They’re on pace for a big number — I think they’re on over a 100-win pace — that’s hard to keep up with. You can go ask the rest of Major League Baseball, that’s just hard to keep up with. They’re having a fabulous season.
“They’re a good team. I’m not surprised by that, not surprised at all. We’re a good team. I mean, we’re not going to be a 100-win team this year. We’re a good team. So that’s the story right now.”
The Cubs have seen their once-sizable hold on the NL’s top wild-card spot evaporate over the last 10 days between a tough West Coast trip and dropping their weekend series against the Cincinnati Reds. The surging Philadelphia Phillies had moved into a tie for the first wild-card position entering Monday, though the Cubs hold the season-series tiebreaker.
Counsell said the players aren’t worrying about postseason positioning right now.
“Does everybody want to play at home as many games as we can? Absolutely, absolutely. We want to play at home,” he said. “Are we going to shy away from a challenge on the road? Nope. So that’s how we look at it, and that’s how every competitor looks at it.”