Cubs Set Franchise Home Run Record With Nine in 17-3 Rout of Brewers

The Chicago Cubs closed out a remarkable August power surge in historic fashion Monday night, blasting a franchise-record nine home runs in a 17-3 demolition of the Milwaukee Brewers at Wrigley Field.

Alex Bregman led the offensive explosion with three homers, marking his second three home run game in just three weeks and giving him 23 home runs for the season. The Cubs repeatedly cleared the fences against Milwaukee pitching, turning the game into a rout while sending a loud message in the National League Central race.

Chicago launched five home runs against Brewers starter Kyle Harrison through the first four innings and added three more against Milwaukee position player Andrew Vaughn late in the game. The Cubs went back-to-back twice, first in the opening inning and again in the fourth.

Tyrone Taylor and Nico Hoerner started the barrage with consecutive home runs in the first inning. Bregman followed with a solo shot in the second, before Seiya Suzuki and Bregman went back-to-back in the fourth.

The nine home runs matched the second most hit by a single team in a Major League Baseball game, according to Sportradar. The record is 10, set by the Toronto Blue Jays during an 18-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Sept. 14, 1987.

The performance capped an extraordinary month for Chicago. The Cubs finished August with 62 home runs, the second-highest total by a major league team in a calendar month. Only the 74 homers hit by the New York Yankees in August 2019 rank higher.

Bregman’s three homer performance was only part of the Cubs’ relentless attack. Matt Shaw and Michael Conforto also went deep against Vaughn, while Carson Kelly added another homer against reliever DL Hall in the seventh inning for his 10th of the season.

The Brewers’ pitching staff entered the night having surrendered a maximum of eight home runs in any game this season. Chicago nearly reached double digits, setting a new franchise mark while handing Milwaukee its most homer-heavy defeat of the year.

Clay Holmes provided the pitching performance needed to make the offensive fireworks stand. The right-hander pitched six scoreless innings, allowing five hits while striking out eight and walking two. Holmes improved to 6-6 and continued an impressive run since joining Chicago in a trade-deadline deal with the New York Mets.

In five starts with the Cubs, Holmes has allowed only five runs, giving Chicago a dependable presence in the rotation as the postseason race enters its final stretch.

Harrison, meanwhile, endured one of his roughest outings of the season. The Brewers starter had allowed just two earned runs in 12 innings against Chicago earlier this year, but the Cubs tagged him for nine runs and 10 hits in only 3 2/3 innings Monday.

His season ERA jumped from 2.79 to 3.45 after the abbreviated outing, while his record fell to 10-4. Milwaukee finally got on the scoreboard in the seventh inning when Cooper Pratt hit a two-run homer off Ryan Rolison, ending Chicago’s shutout bid.

The Cubs immediately answered. Kelly launched his 10th home run of the season off Hall, restoring the momentum and keeping the game firmly in Chicago’s control.

Vaughn, who had been used as a position player pitcher by Milwaukee, also contributed at the plate, delivering an RBI single in the eighth. On the mound, however, he was overwhelmed, allowing seven runs and nine hits over two innings while throwing knuckleballs that were clocked at roughly 45 mph. Shaw, Conforto and Bregman all homered against him.

Despite the lopsided result, the Cubs remain seven games behind the Brewers in the NL Central with six meetings still remaining between the division rivals. Three of those games will come in the remainder of this series at Wrigley Field.

Chicago’s nine-homer night therefore carried significance beyond the standings. After an August filled with offensive production, the Cubs ended the month by rewriting a piece of franchise history and doing it against the team they are chasing for the division title.