The only thing missing from this game was the one real constant in August, Pete Crow-Armstrong getting in on the shenanigans. I know Al and John have already posted all kinds of numbers about this historic night and month in Cub history. From lead-off homers to walk-off homers, sometimes in the game (and by the same person), to three homer games, to nine-homer games to 62 homers in a month for the team, the Cubs rewrote their record book in August.
I don’t love the trend of position players pitching
growing exponentially, but as long as these are the rules, you might as well keep scoring the runs. You swing hard, make solid contact, you don’t get aggressive on the basis and you take your runs. The Cubs put up a seven spot on Andrew Vaughn over two innings. That had to qualify for therapy for some Cub fans after the number of runs Vaughn was responsible for in 2025.
It’s funny, you can send a good number of social media Cub fans into a tizzy by pointing out just how consistent Ian Happ has been throughout his career. Of course, if you live and die with this team, you are all too aware of the periods where he struggles mightily. But by the end of the year, he usually ends up in a pretty similar place, particularly when measured against other hitter.
This Cub team has some of that. I write about them and my general perception of this team is just how inconsistent this team is. But again, fly out to 30,000 feet instead of viewing them from the trenches. In August, the Cubs played 28 games. They won 16. That’s a .571 winning percentage. Since the All-Star game, they’ve played 42 games. They’ve won 24. Their winning percentage? .571. All season long, they’ve played 138 games. They’ve won 78. That’s a .565 winning percentage. So those first two are a 92.6 win pace and the last one is a 91.6 pace. It’s a good bet that they will win 13 or 14 games in September and finish with 91 or 92 wins. Consistency in a sport that is pretty inconsistent by nature.
If you told me that the Cubs were definitely going to sign one of their pending free agents, but exactly one and no more, Clay Holmes would be my guy. I’m glad he was lined up to pitch the first of these seven games in 10 days against the Brewers. The sad thing is that there isn’t a single off day before the second Brewer series. That would line him up potentially to also pitch the last game against the Brewers. As it stands, he should pitch in Miami and then miss the Brewer series in Milwaukee. Months ago, my wife and I talked about possibly going to two of the three games in Miami. Boy, do I regret not pushing those plans through. I might have gotten to see Holmes.
He was terrific in this one. Things did get lopsided pretty fast. By the time he went out for the second inning, he already had a four-run lead to work with and a crowd that had just seen the Cubs hit back-to-back homers. But he did throw a real good first, picking up two strikeouts. He gave the Cubs six scoreless innings before departing. In five starts as a Cub, he’s allowed just five runs in 29 innings of work. It’s hard to imagine Holmes not getting the postseason Game 1 start for the Cubs at this point. I’m going to keep saying that I hope he is falling in love with pitching with this team around him. Offensively and defensively.
Speaking of great trade deadline acquisitions, Tyrone Taylor has exceeded all expectations. I’m proud of saying that it would be a good idea for the Cubs to add a right-handed complementary player to Michael Conforto. Taylor had another four-hit game, his second in the last three days. Taylor now has a .409/.460/.545 line in 18 games as a Cub. Totally not sustainable, but he is crushing it. Thank you, New York Mets. The Hindenburg that was your season has really immensely helped the Cubs. Don’t forget they basically gave the Cubs David Peterson earlier in the season when the Cubs were essentially out of healthy bodies to fill a nine inning game. Peterson is 4-1 with a 3.90 as a Cub in 10 starts (11 total appearances).
None of it actually carries over, but I loved how the Cubs set the tone for these seven games. Unfortunately, the Brewers have played so well that even sweeping all seven might not lead the Cubs to a division title. But it sure would be a lot of fun, particularly if a few of them go this way.
Three Positives:
Consider Holmes and Taylor as one and two in some order. They did most of their work in the first half of the game, while this one was pretty competitive.
Three Cubs had three-hit games and all of them hit at least one homer (as did Taylor). The Cubs used 11 position players and all 11 had hits. That one wasn’t a record, but pretty neat just the same. Out of all of that, Alex Bregman has to be the third positive. He had another three-homer game. Over his last 33 games, he has an absurd line of .328/.388/.701. And, of course, he’s only second in fWAR over that time, behind PCA. In addition to Bregman and PCA, Dansby Swanson also had a three-homer game earlier this year.
As a team, the Cubs lead in runs, on base percentage, slugging percentage and a whole host of other statistics. The Cubs sit third in run differential. It seems crazy, but if they duplicated this performance in the next game, they’d pass the Brewers. It seems insane, but this now marks 32 wins classified as blowouts (5 or more run margin). Unbelievable. Say what you want about Jed, but he had that whole conversation about close games. The best teams win blowouts. Then he went out and built this team.
Game 138, August 31: Cubs 17, Brewers 2 (78-60)
Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.
THREE HEROES:
- Superhero: Tyrone Taylor (.182). 4-6, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R
- Hero: Clay Holmes (.126). 6 IP, 23 BF, 5 H, 2 BB, 0 R, 8 K (W 2-2)
- Sidekick: Nico Hoerner (.085). 1-3, HR, BB, RBI, R
THREE GOATS:
- Billy Goat: Pete Crow-Armstrong (-.032). 1-5, R
- Goat: Matt Shaw (-.016). 1-4, HR, BB, 2 RBI, 2 R
- Kid: Miguel Amaya (-.015). 1-3, BB, HBP, RBI, 2 R
Note: Bregman’s three-homer game isn’t even the next score. Bregman managed to his into a double play and hit a homer and neither one produced WPA in either direction.
WPA Play of the Game: Tyrone Taylor’s two-run homer in the first started the scoring. (.192)
Cubs Play of the Game: With one out in the first, Alex Bregman batted with a runner on first. Kyle Harrison got him to pop out. (.035)
Note: There were 88 WPA events in this game. PCA’s ground out to first in the fifth was the first that produced .000 WPA. Matt Shaw’s two-run homer in the seventh was the last play that produced any WPA. 31 plays had no WPA value. It’s wild how fast this one got out of hand.
Cubs Player of the Game:
Game 137 Winner: Pete Crow-Armstrong received 53/62.
Rizzo Award Standings: (Top 5/Bottom 5)
The award is named for Anthony Rizzo, who finished first in this category three of the first four years it was in existence and four times overall. He also recorded the highest season total ever at +65.5. The point scale is three points for a Superhero down to negative three points for a Billy Goat.
- Pete Crow-Armstrong +26
- Alex Bregman +24
- Ben Brown +13.5
- Javier Assad +12
- Carson Kelly +10.5
- Edward Cabrera -12.5
- Jameson Taillon/Nico Hoerner -13
- Dansby Swanson -17
- Caleb Thielbar -18.5
Scoreboard Watching: Brewers lose (seven up on Cubs). Braves lose (four up). Padres win (five back). Phillies win (tied but Cubs own tiebreaker). Diamondbacks lose (5.5 back).
Up Next: Game two of this series. The Cubs are 2-2 to start this stretch of 13 games in 13 days. Will the calendar turn to September slow down the Cubs offense? They have scored 77 runs in their last eight games (and a 4-4 record) despite being shut out once. They’ve only allowed 33 runs in that stretch. Four blowout wins and four close losses. Crazy.
Matthew Boyd (8-3, 3.99) starts for the Cubs. Boyd is 0-2 with 12 runs allowed in his last three starts (17.1 innings). He gets into the sixth inning, so he’s providing length. He hasn’t started against the Brewers yet this year. Holmes and Boyd should start the last two games in Miami and then miss the Brewer series in Milwaukee. I’m betting that regardless what happens this weekend, next weekend will not be great in Milwaukee.
27-year-old lefty Robert Gasser (4-5, 4.59) starts for the Brewers. Gasser has done well over his last seven, registering a 2-1 with a 3.75 over six starts and a relief appearance (36 innings). He last started against the Cubs in May of 2024 when he threw six scoreless. Just four Cubs are even still on the team from that one.
A second straight win would be divine. The Cubs are 26-15 vs. lefty starters and the Brewers are 28-13.
