The Atlanta Braves couldn’t overcome an early deficit Monday night, falling to the Chicago Cubs 7-3 at Wrigley Field in the opening game of the series.
Chicago jumped on Braves starter Reynaldo López in the second inning. Carson Kelly drove home the first run before Pete Crow-Armstrong delivered a two-run double to give the Cubs a 3-0 lead. The Cubs added two more in the third on RBI hits from Nico Hoerner and Michael Conforto, knocking López out after just three innings. López allowed five runs on six hits and took the loss.
Crow-Armstrong put the game further out of reach in the sixth, blasting a two-run home run off AJ Smith-Shawver. It was his 42nd homer of the season, tying Hall of Famer Billy Williams for the Cubs’ record for home runs in a season by a left-handed hitter. Crow-Armstrong finished 4-for-5 with four RBIs.
Atlanta finally got its offense going in the seventh. Sean Murphy drove in the Braves’ first run before Mike Yastrzemski launched a two-run homer to cut the Chicago lead to 7-3. The Braves had one final opportunity in the ninth, loading the bases with one out and bringing Ronald Acuña Jr. to the plate as the potential tying run. But Acuña grounded into a game-ending double play.
Cubs starter David Peterson kept the Braves quiet for most of the night, allowing just one run on three hits while striking out seven over six innings. Atlanta finished with eight hits but couldn’t overcome Chicago’s early offensive surge.
The loss drops the Braves to 88-63, while Chicago improves to 84-67 as the two clubs continue their September series at Wrigley Field. You can listen to the Braves and Cubs play game two of a three game series tonight starting with the Braves pregame show at 6:25 on Kool 102.7 with first pitch scheduled for 7:40pm.
