Gary Sánchez put the Brewers game in motion with a 415-foot homer in the third inning, driving an inner-half fastball down the left-field line for a 1-0 Milwaukee Brewers lead over the Chicago Cubs on June 28. The early edge held until the seventh, when the Cubs answered and turned a clean start into a tight game.
Gary Sánchez Drives One Out
Sánchez’s first run came on the kind of swing that leaves little room for doubt. Brandon Woodruff had already given Milwaukee a strong start on the mound, and the home run matched that with a lead before the game settled into a low-scoring stretch.
Game 81 carried its own weight because it marked the halfway point of the 2026 season, and the Brewers were trying to turn a good opening into more than one run. They did not add to it, but they still had the kind of early cushion that can change how the middle innings unfold.
Woodruff Sets The Tone
Woodruff’s recent run helped explain why the Brewers could lean on a single swing. Since returning from the injured list on June 22, he had worked 11 ⅔ scoreless innings across two starts, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out 16, and his season ERA sat at 2.59 after those outings.
That form mattered because it gave Milwaukee a chance to play from in front while the offense searched for more. Chicago started Ryan Rolison, and the game quickly became one where every run carried extra value.
Cubs Tie It Late
The lead disappeared in the seventh when Aaron Ashby threw a wild pitch with Matt Shaw pinch-hitting, allowing the Cubs to pull even at 1-1. Ashby also balked later in the at-bat with Nico Hoerner on second base, and the inning flipped the pressure back onto Milwaukee after the Brewers had spent most of the afternoon protecting that first run.
The shape of the game changed again after that. Pete Crow-Armstrong stole second base against Woodruff in the sixth, Michael Busch struck out against Ashby after Woodruff exited, and the Brewers still had to navigate the late innings without adding runs of their own.
Brewers Leave Runners
Milwaukee’s offense never capitalized on its traffic. The Brewers went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight runners, which left Sánchez’s homer as the only scoring play through nine innings.
That set up the late bullpen work. Abner Uribe covered 1 ⅔ scoreless innings, and Trevor Megill struck out three batters in the ninth while working around a Nico Hoerner single, sending the game deeper with the score still tied. The Brewers had the early lead, Chicago erased it in the seventh, and the game moved on from there without a final result in hand.
