Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (6/26/26): Brewers 6, Cubs 2 – Bullpen Buckles in Loss
The Cubs faced a difficult task, taking on ace Jacob Misiorowski and the Brewers at American Family Field Friday night. The road team held onto a narrow lead in the middle innings, but the bullpen gave it up and the home squad emerged victorious.
Colin Rea kept Milwaukee off the scoreboard through the first five innings to match his fireballing opponent. Chicago went ahead when Seiya Suzuki hit a solo home run off of Misiorowski in the top of the 5th, which was like Rocky making Drago bleed.
Rea was replaced by Ethan Roberts with two on and nobody out in the bottom of the 6th. Andrew Vaughn nearly hit into a triple play on a line out to Nico Hoerner but the second baseman could not get to throw to first after bobbling it and it was just a double play. The Brewers took advantage of that mistake when Garrett Mitchell followed with a go-ahead two-run homer.
Roberts gave up one more in that frame on an RBI triple by David Hamilton, and catcher William Contreras added more insurance with a two-run shot off of Jayden Murray in the bottom of the 7th that put Milwaukee on top 5-1.
The North Siders got one of those runs back when Suzuki hit a sacrifice fly against Aaron Ashby in the top of the 8th. Christian Yelich responded with an RBI double in the bottom of that frame and the Brewers won 6-2. (Box score)
Key Moment
The Cubs had the bases loaded with two outs in the top of the 6th and Misiorowski struck out Ian Happ, ending the threat to keep the score at 1-0.
Why the Cubs Lost
Two runs are not going to be enough for this bullpen, and Friday was not a good day for that imperiled unit.
Stats That Matter
- A second consecutive pretty good performance by Rea: 5 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 4 K, and 3 BB.
- Suzuki had a walk to go with his home run.
- Alex Bregman reached base twice.
Bottom Line
You’re not going to get a lot of chances against a team like the Brewers, so it’s important to take advantage when you do. The Cubs were unable make anything happen and things got away from them after that. The goal remains stealing one of these next two games without a proven starting pitcher on the mound. It won’t be easy, but putting some runs on the board would certainly help.
On Deck
Game two of the series is Saturday night at 6:10pm CT. David Peterson makes his debut for Chicago against fellow left-hander Kyle Harrison in a contest airing on Marquee with a radio broadcast on The Score.
