The Cubs didn’t just finish August hot. They made a little baseball history while they were at it.
Chicago led all MLB teams with 62 home runs in August, a total that towered over the rest of the league. The Cincinnati Reds were next at 42, and that 20-homer gap put the Cubs in rare company. They became the first club to out-homer every other team by at least 20 in a single month since the 1947 New York Giants, who blasted 55 in July while the Yankees were second with 30.
The power surge showed up again Monday in Milwaukee, where Chicago rolled past the Brewers 17-3. Third baseman Alex Bregman drove the damage, going deep three times to close out the month.
It was the second three-homer game of August for the three-time All-Star, who also turned the trick against the Washington Nationals in a 12-6 win on August 12. He’s up to 23 home runs on the season.
The Cubs didn’t stop with Bregman. They finished the night with nine homers as a team, matching the second-most ever by an MLB club in a single game.
Only Toronto has done more, when the Blue Jays hit 10 against Baltimore on Sept. 14, 1987.
Pete Crow-Armstrong was part of the bigger August fireworks, too, even though he didn’t leave the yard Monday. The National League MVP candidate went 1 for 5 against Milwaukee after a three-homer, six-RBI night in Saturday’s 17-5 win over the Reds. He has 14 of his career-high 38 homers this month alone.
Crow-Armstrong’s overall numbers are piling up fast. He leads MLB in extra-base hits with 72, owns an 8.4 WAR among position players, and tops the league in Offensive WAR at 7.0.
Chicago enters the final stretch with a 5-game lead in the NL Wild Card race and 24 games left to play. The Cubs also sit 7 games back of the Brewers in the NL Central, and they’ll try to chip into that deficit this week when they face Milwaukee in game 2 of a 4-game series on Tuesday.
In Other News...
Brewers Quietly Added Infield Depth At The Right Time
The Brewers kept working the margins of the roster by bringing back veteran infielder Jonathan Ornelas on a minor league deal and sending him to Triple-A Nashville. It was a quick turn after Ornelas was designated for assignment and then elected free agency, but it gives Milwaukee a familiar depth piece who has spent time in the majors with multiple clubs and can move around the diamond.
Ornelas value is in that versatility, since he has handled several infield spots and even seen time in the outfield. For a Brewers club that tends to prize flexibility and options, getting him back into the system offers a low-risk layer of insurance as the season moves along and roster needs inevitably shift. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Could Face A William Contreras Decision Fans Wont Ignore
Austin Wells has given the Yankees a little more at catcher, but not enough to quiet the idea that they could still look for a bigger upgrade this offseason. One name that keeps surfacing is William Contreras, the Brewers All-Star backstop, whose blend of offense and improved defense has made him one of the more appealing catchers on the market if Milwaukee decides to listen.
For Brewers fans, the conversation is less about what Contreras could bring elsewhere and more about whether the club would really entertain moving one of its most important players. He is entering the final year of his contract in 2027, which only adds to the sense that a difficult decision may be coming, and any possibility of a deal is the kind of storyline that would ripple well beyond Milwaukee if the Yankees or another contender get serious. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Playoff Pitching Outlook Just Got More Concerning With Kyle Harrison
Kyle Harrison had seemed to stabilize after coming back from a month-long injury with left forearm tightness, and at first the results were there. Even so, the bigger concern has been what the Brewers are seeing underneath the box score: a fastball that has gone from a career-best 95 mph down to an average of 93.7, with the diminished pace helping explain why hitters have started doing more damage against him.
The latest reminder came against the Cubs, when Harrison was tagged for nine earned runs in 3 innings as Chicago took advantage of the softer velocity and some pitch tipping. For a Brewers team trying to sort out its playoff pitching picture, that kind of outing is more than a bad night - it raises fresh questions about whether Harrison can get back to the version of himself that made him look so useful in the first place. [Read more 🡒]