It was a good month for the Chicago Cubs. Some may even say it was historic in some respects. A lot of that can be attributed to the offensive production from center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong and third baseman Alex Bregman.
Manager Craig Counsell’s club went 16-12 in August and entered September with a 78-60 record. While the Milwaukee Brewers have a secure hold on the National League Central divisional lead, Chicago also has a firm hold on an NL Wild Card spot as we enter the regular season’s final month.
What PCA and Bregman did certainly opened some eyes around the league, though. Bregman had entered the 2026 season with zero career three-homer games…and he put up two such performances in August alone. As for PCA, he registered his own three-homer game and also entered the exclusive club of players with a leadoff and walk-off home run in the same game.
Combine their August performances, and you’ve got something special we haven’t seen in a while.
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Cubs’ Duo of PCA and Bregman Enters an Exclusive Club
Here’s a look at Crow-Armstrong’s month of August (which also saw him join the 30-30 club for the second straight year): .280/.366/.703 with 14 home runs, six doubles, 16 walks, 28 RBI, and 29 runs scored in 28 games.
And this is what Bregman did in August: .296/.364/.661 with 12 home runs, six doubles, 12 walks, 30 RBI, and 23 runs scored in 28 games.
Combine their homers, walks, RBI, and runs scored, and they’ve reached heights we haven’t seen since 1961, according to OptaSTATS:
Pete Crow-Armstrong & Alex Bregman of the @Cubs are the first MLB teammate duo to combine for:
25+ home runs
25+ walks
50+ RBI
50+ runs scored…in a calendar month since Roger Maris & Mickey Mantle in July 1961. pic.twitter.com/631BKaEvGa
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) September 1, 2026
And if we boil down their performance to only homers, the club is still pretty exclusive. According to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, it’s happened just four times. However, PCA and Bregman are the first duo to do it this century:
- Pete Crow-Armstrong and Alex Bregman, August 2026 (Chicago Cubs)
- Iván Rodríguez and Rafael Palmeiro, August 1999 (Texas Rangers)
- Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle, July 1961 (New York Yankees)
- Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle, June 1960 (New York Yankees
What Happened the Next Month For These Teammate Duos?
Whenever I see stats like these, it always makes me stop in my tracks because they’re incredibly cool. But I also immediately wondered how these duos performed the following month after making history.
So, let’s find out!
Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle (June 1960)
June 1960 was Maris’ third straight month with an OPS north of 1.000. He finished with a 1.157 OPS, 14 home runs, and 34 RBI in 30 games. Mantle posted a 1.184 OPS with 12 homers and 23 RBI in 28 games during the same month.
Here’s what happened in July of 1960:
- Maris: .774 OPS, six homers, and 17 RBI in 26 games
- Mantle: .973 OPS, nine homers, and 26 RBI in 27 games
Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle (July 1961)
This duo was pretty impressive, don’t you think? The 1961 season was, of course, the campaign in which Maris broke Babe Ruth’s single-season home run record by slugging 61 taters. Mantle finished further off the pace at 54, but that was a single-season record for switch-hitters until Cal Raleigh passed him in 2025.
In July 1961, Maris put together a 1.158 OPS with 13 homers and 31 RBI in 28 games. Mantle checked in with a 1.362 OPS, 14 homers, and 28 RBI in 29 games.
Here’s how things looked for both sluggers in August of 1961:
- Maris: .945 OPS, 11 homers, and 24 RBI in 31 games
- Mantle: 1.051 OPS, nine homers, 22 RBI in 31 games
Iván Rodríguez and Rafael Palmeiro (August 1999)
This is probably the best comparison for PCA and Bregman. I know Pudge and Raffy did this during the height of the steroid era, and MLB’s offensive environment was fundamentally different, but at least it happened less than three decades ago.
Rodríguez posted a 1.028 OPS with 12 homers and 28 RBI in 29 games during August 1999 for Texas. Palmeiro did even more damage, evidenced by his 1.165 OPS, 15 homers, and 39 RBI in 30 games.
This is how each player finished out the regular season in September of 1999:
- Rodríguez: .965 OPS, five homers, and 22 RBI in 25 games
- Palmeiro: .945 OPS, seven homers, and 21 RBI in 27 games
What kind of encore performance do PCA and Bregman have in store for us in September? Time will tell, but they’ve done themselves a huge favor by entering the final stretch of the regular season on incredible heaters as the Cubs eye another postseason appearance.
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