Alex Bregman hits 3 home runs and Cubs set team record with 9 in 17-3 rout of Brewers

CHICAGO (AP) — Alex Bregman hit three of Chicago's franchise-record nine home runs and the Cubs punctuated their August power display with a 17-3 blowout of the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday night.

Clay Holmes pitched six scoreless innings for the Cubs, who launched five homers off Milwaukee starter Kyle Harrison in the first four innings and three more against position player Andrew Vaughn late in the game.

Chicago went back-to-back twice, in the first inning and the fourth.

The nine longballs matched the second-most by one team in a major league game, according to Sportradar. Toronto hit 10 during an 18-3 victory over Baltimore on Sept. 14, 1987.

Chicago finished August with 62 home runs, second-most by a big league club in a calendar month behind the 74 hit by the New York Yankees in August 2019.

Milwaukee holds a seven-game lead in the NL Central over the Cubs with six meetings remaining this season, including three more in this series at Wrigley Field.

Holmes (6-6) allowed five hits, striking out eight and walking two. He has given up only five runs in five starts since joining the Cubs in a trade-deadline deal with the New York Mets.

Bregman’s second three-homer game in three weeks gave him 23 on the year.

The nine home runs were also the most allowed by the Brewers this season.

Tyrone Taylor and Nico Hoerner hit back-to-back homers off Harrison in the first, and Bregman connected in the second. Seiya Suzuki and Bregman went back-to-back in the fourth, the Cubs’ eighth set of back-to-back homers this season.

Harrison (10-4) had permitted only two earned runs in 12 previous innings against the Cubs this year, but he gave up nine runs on 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings Monday as his season ERA spiked from 2.79 to 3.45.

Cooper Pratt hit a two-run homer for Milwaukee off Ryan Rolison in the seventh to break up Chicago's shutout bid. Carson Kelly answered in the bottom half when he connected off reliever DL Hall for his 10th of the season.

Vaughn, a first baseman, allowed seven runs and nine hits over two innings while throwing 45 mph knuckleballs. He served up homers to Matt Shaw, Michael Conforto and Bregman.

At the plate, Vaughn had an RBI single in the eighth.

Brewers LHP Robert Gasser (4-5, 4.59 ERA) starts Tuesday against Cubs LHP Matthew Boyd (8-3, 3.99).

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Chicago Cubs' Tyrone Taylor, center, celebrates after hitting a two-run home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers in Chicago, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Chicago Cubs' Seiya Suzuki, left, of Japan, is congratulated by Alex Bregman, right, after hitting a solo home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers in Chicago, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Chicago Cubs' Alex Bregman hits a solo home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers in Chicago, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Chicago Cubs' Alex Bregman, right, watches his solo home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers in Chicago, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — More than 20 people died while attempting to reach Greece from North Africa over the past three days, with the Greek coast guard recovering 13 bodies from a boat carrying migrants south of Crete early Monday after eight bodies were found in another boat over the weekend.

More than 180 other people were rescued Monday morning from three boats crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa to Crete after they were spotted by the European Union’s border agency Frontex. They were the latest in a steady number of boats traveling from Libya to Greece, a crossing that has become one of the main migration routes to Europe.

“Rising arrivals along the eastern Libya–Crete route this year, coupled with gaps in search and rescue capacity, are heightening humanitarian concerns over the risks faced by people making the journey,” said the United Nations' International Organization for Migration, or IOM.

In Monday's incident, the coast guard said a passing Moroccan-flagged cargo ship picked up 18 people from the boat on which 13 bodies — those of 12 men and one woman — were found. One of those rescued was later confirmed dead at a health center in Crete, while another three — a man, a woman and a minor — were transported to a hospital on the island.

There was no immediate information available on the identities or nationalities of those on board or what had caused the deaths of the 14 people. The boat was found about 15 nautical miles (about 28 kilometers or 18 miles) south of the southern Greek island of Crete early Monday.

In a separate incident, the coast guard said 28 Sudanese nationals were rescued overnight Saturday after their boat ran into trouble in bad weather about 6 nautical miles (11 kilometers or 7 miles) south of Crete. Eight bodies were recovered and two people were reported missing.

Greece is one of the main entry points into the 27-nation EU for people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. In recent months, thousands have been making the perilous sea crossing from North Africa, usually from Libya to Crete. Others make the far shorter but often equally dangerous crossing from the Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, often in unseaworthy inflatable dinghies or other small boats.

Last month, 12 people, including an infant, died when the two boats they were traveling in from Turkey to the islands of Lesbos and Samos capsized.

Frontex said in October that the eastern Mediterranean was the busiest route for migrants attempting to enter the EU, although irregular border crossings into the bloc were down by a third so far this year.

The agency said that around 31, 800 crossings were recorded in the first three quarters of 2026, a fall of 15% compared with the same period last year. The corridor from Libya to Crete was the busiest section on the route, ahead of the eastern Aegean islands and the land border with Turkey.

Migrants stand on the deck of a Frontex vessel as it approaches the port of Kaloi Limenes on the Greek island of Crete, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, following a rescue operation. (Stefanos Rapanis/Eurokinissi via AP)

Migrants gather on a pier after being brought ashore following a rescue operation off the Greek island of Crete, at the port of Kaloi Limenes, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026. (Stefanos Rapanis/Eurokinissi via AP)

Migrants gather on a pier after being brought ashore following a rescue operation off the Greek island of Crete, at the port of Kaloi Limenes, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026. (Stefanos Rapanis/Eurokinissi via AP)

Rescue workers carry the bodies of migrants from a Coast Guard vessel at the port of Agia Galini, on the Greek island of Crete, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, after 12 people were found dead aboard a boat south of the island and 18 others were rescued. (Stefanos Rapanis/Eurokinissi via AP)

Rescue workers carry the bodies of migrants from a Coast Guard vessel at the port of Agia Galini, on the Greek island of Crete, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, after 12 people were found dead aboard a boat south of the island and 18 others were rescued. (Stefanos Rapanis/Eurokinissi via AP)

Rescue workers carry the bodies of migrants from a Coast Guard vessel at the port of Agia Galini, on the Greek island of Crete, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, after 12 people were found dead aboard a boat south of the island and 18 others were rescued. (Stefanos Rapanis/Eurokinissi via AP)

FILE - Migrants who arrived recently at the island of Crete, despite a suspension of asylum claims and plans for tougher detention rules, are being held under guard at a temporary shelter in the village of Agia, near Chania city, on the island of Crete, southern Greece, Aug. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Giannis Angelakis File)