Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (9/1/26): Brewers 9, Cubs 4 – Bullpen Blasted Again
The Cubs battled the Brewers in the second game of their series and a hot and muggy Wrigley Field Tuesday night. The home squad ran into a familiar problem, with another bullpen implosion erasing an early lead and handing them a loss.
Chicago was the first team to break through on the scoresheet against Robert Gasser with a two-run double by Tyrone Taylor in the bottom of the 4th. Taylor would come home later in the frame on an infield single by Nico Hoerner that created a throwing error. Milwaukee got one back off Matthew Boyd with an RBI single by Cooper Pratt in the top of the 5th which made it 3-1.
Boyd exited the game with runners on second and third and one out in the top of the 6th. Daniel Palencia came on and it did not go well, beginning with a balk and an RBI double by Andrew Vaughn that tied the score. Christian Yelich then crushed a two-run homer to give the Brew Crew a 5-3 advantage.
The North Siders cut the deficit to 5-4 in the bottom of the frame on a run-scoring groundout by Carson Kelly. Milwaukee responded against Ryan Zeferjahn, putting up a pair on a double by William Contreras and a single from Sal Frelick to give them a 7-4 edge in the 7th.
The Cubs never threatened after that and eventually went down to a 9-4 defeat. (Box score)
Key Moment
Chicago had the tying and go-ahead runners on base with two outs in the bottom of the 6th, but Matt Shaw grounded out to third to end the threat.
Why the Cubs Lost
The bullpen allowed two inherited runners and six additional runs to score in 3.2 innings of work.
Stats That Matter
- Boyd gave up two hits that didn’t leave the infield in his final inning and both came in to score: 5.1 IP, 3 R, 7 H, 3 K, and 1 BB.
- Pete Crow-Armstrong had a rough one with three strikeouts.
- Palencia has not been good since returning from injury, and he’s up to a 4.95 ERA.
Bottom Line
The Cubs are going to have to find some kind of usable pieces in the bullpen because the current setup is not working. They are at the throwing spaghetti against the wall stage at this point. Edward Cabrera, Justin Steele, Shelby Miller, and anyone else available should get a shot. The clock is ticking, and it will be a very short playoff run if the North Siders can’t piece together a workable ‘pen.
On Deck
The two rivals are at it again Wednesday night at 6:40pm CT. David Peterson takes the hill against presumptive Cy Young winner Jacob Misiorowski in a game available on MLB Network and Marquee with radio coverage on The Score.
