Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (3/29/26): Nationals 6, Cubs 3 – Bregman Homers Twice as Cubs Drop Series

The Cubs played the deciding game of their series against the Nationals at an overcast and windy Wrigley Field Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately for the home squad, a couple of home runs made the difference and cost them the series.

Shōta Imanaga got the start for Chicago and ran into trouble with two outs in the top of the 1st inning. A pair of singles were followed by a three-run homer off the bat of Joey Wiemer to put Washington on top 3-0.

The North Siders finally got to Jake Irvin in the bottom of the 4th with back-to-back home runs. Alex Bregman connected on his first as a Cub to center and Ian Happ followed with a basket shot to left that cut the deficit to 3-2.

The Nats got one of those runs back on a sacrifice fly by catcher Keibert Ruiz in the top of the 6th. Ruiz did even more damage with a two-run homer off of Hoby Milner in the 8th that increased the margin to 6-2. Bregman added a second solo dinger in the bottom of the frame, but it was not enough and Chicago went down to a 6-3 defeat. (Box score)

Key Moment

Washington’s 1st inning home run placed the Cubs in a hole they never could fully climb out of.

Why the Cubs Lost

They went deep three times, but all three were solo shots. The Nationals hit two of them with runners on base, which made the difference in the score.

Stats That Matter

• Imanaga was pretty good outside of the three-batter stretch in the opening inning: 5 IP, 4 R, 6 H, 7 K, and 2 BB.
• Bregman is going to enjoy playing at Wrigley Field with the wind blowing out.
• Nico Hoerner had the only other hit on the afternoon for Chicago with a single.

Bottom Line

Losing two out of three to a bad Nationals team obviously is not an ideal start to the season. These stretches will happen but this sticks out more since it is the only series that’s happened so far. Hopefully, they will bounce back and take the next one to ease the concerns of some of the more jumpy fans.

On Deck

The Angels come to Wrigley for a three-game series starting Monday at 6:40pm CT. Edward Cabrera makes his debut for Chicago against Ryan Johnson in a matchup available on Marquee with a radio feed on The Score.