Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (8/21/26): Mariners 6, Cubs 5 F/10 – Bregman Heroics Not Enough in Extras Loss
The Cubs traveled out west to begin a series against the Mariners on Friday night. It was a back-and-forth game, but the road team finally got to see how the other half lives as they suffered a walk-off loss in extra innings.
Chicago came out of the gate on fire against Emerson Hancock in the top of the 1st, with another leadoff home run from Pete Crow-Armstrong. That blast was quickly followed by a two-run shot off the bat of Alex Bregman that made it 3-0. Seattle responded in the bottom of the 2nd, putting up four on Matthew Boyd to move in front 4-3. The damage was done on a three-run homer by Cal Raleigh and then an RBI single from Brendan Donovan.
The North Siders had numerous scoring chances, but were unable to get the big hit to even the score. The M’s were gifted a run in the bottom of the 5th with an error, a balk, and an RBI single from Randy Arozarena that increased their advantage to 5-3.
The Cubs cut the deficit in half when Ian Happ hit a solo shot off of Eduard Bazardo in the top of the 8th. They completed the comeback in the 9th when Bregman took closer Andrés Munñoz deep to tie the game and force extra innings.
Chicago came up empty in the top half of the 10th, and Seattle got their ghost runner in when Leo Rivas hit an RBI single against Ryan Zeferjahn to win it 6-5. (Box score)
Key Moment
The Cubs had a brutal night with runners in scoring position, including a failure to bring in the free man at second in the top of the 10th.
Why the Cubs Lost
They went 1-for-16 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 men on base Friday. Some sloppy mistakes also cost them an important run in the middle of the game.
Stats That Matter
- Boyd was the victim of one bad inning: 6 IP, 5 R, 4 ER, 6 H, 3 K, and 2 BB.
- Bregman is now up to seven homers in the month of August.
- Daniel Palencia made his return and threw a clean 7th inning.
- Michael Busch had a pair of hits, including a double.
- Manager Craig Counsell was ejected for arguing the balk call.
Bottom Line
When the Cubs struggle, it is often because they leave tons of men on base. That is very frustrating, and it costs them winnable games like this one. They really need Palencia to solidify the bullpen in his return, because Zeferjahn certainly has not helped.
On Deck
Game two of the series is Saturday night at 6:15pm CT. David Peterson gets the start against top prospect Kade Anderson, who is making his major league debut, in a contest televised exclusively on FOX with a radio feed on The Score.
