Cubs Bullpen Falters Again, Surrendering Late Lead to Brewers

In a Tuesday night matchup, the Chicago Cubs surrendered a 4-3 lead to the Milwaukee Brewers in extra innings. With two outs in the ninth, Brewers left fielder Jackson Chourio homered off Cubs closer Jacob Webb, tying the game. Milwaukee’s Luis Lara delivered the winning RBI single in the 10th, handing Chicago its third consecutive loss and a missed opportunity to climb ahead of Philadelphia for the NL wild-card lead.

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Since mid-August, the Cubs’ bullpen has slipped to 23rd in ERA league-wide and has allowed 16 home runs—the second-most in MLB over that span. Webb’s recent outings include three late-inning homers in six appearances, a pattern that has coincided with the team losing all three games in which those runs occurred. Injuries have further depleted the staff: the club’s highest-paid relievers remain on the injured list, and former closer Daniel Palencia is still regaining form. Recent trade-deadline addition Ryan Zeferjahn, acquired from the Angels, has also struggled to find consistency.

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He described the consecutive bullpen failures as “hurting” and emphasized the need to channel that disappointment into improvement.

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The loss kept Chicago from overtaking Philadelphia for the top wild-card spot and leaves the Cubs in a precarious position, potentially fighting for a postseason berth. Meanwhile, Milwaukee’s victory marked its fourth comeback win after trailing by two or more runs in the ninth or later, tying for the second-most such wins in MLB. The Brewers reached their 90th win of the season—the fastest in franchise history—and could clinch a playoff berth as early as the following Wednesday.

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• “We made a bad pitch with a man on base,” — Craig Counsell, leaving manager

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• “I think we're going to get back on track," Webb said.” — Jacob Webb

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• “I think the adrenalin takes my game to another level," Chourio said through the team interpreter about his home run.” — Jackson Chourio

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