Bregman Hits 3 Homers as Cubs Hit 9

Alex Bregman hit three home runs and the Chicago Cubs hit a franchise-record nine in a 17-3 blowout of the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday night at Wrigley Field. It was Bregman's second three-homer game in three weeks. He has 23 on the year.

Clay Holmes threw six scoreless innings. The Cubs teed off on Kyle Harrison early, then on first baseman Andrew Vaughn late. By the end of August they had 62 home runs in the month, a club record, second in the majors only to the 2019 Yankees' 74.

Nine homers, two of them back-to-back

Tyrone Taylor and Nico Hoerner went back-to-back off Harrison in the first. Bregman went deep in the second. Seiya Suzuki and Bregman went back-to-back in the fourth, Chicago's eighth pair of consecutive homers this season. Harrison (10-4) had allowed two earned runs in 12 innings against the Cubs this year. On Monday he allowed nine runs on 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings. His ERA jumped from 2.79 to 3.45.

Holmes (6-6) allowed five hits, struck out eight, and walked two. He has given up five runs in five starts since the Mets traded him to Chicago. Cooper Pratt's two-run homer off Ryan Rolison in the seventh finally scored Milwaukee. Carson Kelly answered with his 10th homer, off DL Hall.

Vaughn's knuckleballs, then Bregman's third

Vaughn, a first baseman, threw 45 mph knuckleballs for two innings. He allowed seven runs and nine hits. Matt Shaw, Michael Conforto, and Bregman all took him deep. Bregman said after the 17-3 final, "First two ever, so for sure, we'll definitely remember it."

The nine homers tied for the second-most by one team in a major league game, per Sportradar. Toronto hit 10 against Baltimore on Sept. 14, 1987. They were also the most Milwaukee has allowed this season. The Brewers still lead the NL Central by seven games. Chicago is 78-60. Milwaukee is 85-53. Three more games remain in this Wrigley series.

What August looked like for this lineup

Pete Crow-Armstrong had a quiet Monday and still finished the month with 14 homers. Bregman had 12. ESPN Research said they are the third pair of teammates to each hit 12 or more in a calendar month, after Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris (twice) and Rafael Palmeiro and Ivan Rodriguez. Bregman went 1,342 career games without a three-homer night, then did it twice in 18 games. He is the seventh player with multiple three-homer games in a month, the first since Adam Duvall in September 2020.

"He is relentless in his preparation and in his daily grind," manager Craig Counsell said. Robert Gasser (4-5, 4.59) starts Tuesday against Matthew Boyd (8-3, 3.99). The Cubs already spent the month leaving baseballs on Waveland. Monday they just stacked nine of them in one box score.