CHICAGO β A team built to win the NL Central just lost its opening series to a club that went 66-96 last year. It's three games. It means almost nothing. And it still stings.
Joey Wiemer's three-run homer off Shota Imanaga in the first inning set the tone, and the Cubs never fully recovered in a 6-3 loss to the Washington Nationals on Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field. Washington took the series two games to one, leaving the Cubs at 1-2 to start the season.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WSH | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 2 |
| CHC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
Imanaga's Rough Debut
Shota Imanaga's 2026 season opener followed a familiar script β the kind that plagued his second half last year. The left-hander gave up 4 earned runs on 6 hits in 5 innings, including the Wiemer three-run shot in the first that put the Cubs in an immediate 3-0 hole. Imanaga struck out 7, and the stuff was clearly still there, but the damage was done early. The home run problems that defined his 2025 second half β he surrendered 31 long balls last season β carried right into the new year.
Bregman Finally Arrives
The one good thing to come out of this afternoon: Alex Bregman is no longer pressing. After going 1-for-13 to start his Cubs career, Bregman launched a solo homer to center off Jake Irvin in the fourth inning β his first as a Cub β and Ian Happ immediately followed with a solo shot of his own to cut the deficit to 3-2. It felt like a turning point. It wasn't.
Bregman added a second solo homer off Cionel PΓ©rez in the eighth to make it 6-3, but by then Washington had already padded its lead with a Keibert Ruiz sacrifice fly in the sixth and a two-run Ruiz homer off Hoby Milner in the eighth. Bregman finished 2-for-4 with 2 HR and 2 RBI. The power is real.
Offense Otherwise Silent
Outside of the three solo homers from Bregman and Happ, the Cubs produced almost nothing. They managed just 4 hits and went 0-for-1 with runners in scoring position. Pete Crow-Armstrong went 0-for-4 after a hot first two games. Dansby Swanson is still hitless through three games (0-for-8). MoisΓ©s Ballesteros went 0-for-4 and is hitting .100 on the young season. Michael Busch went 0-for-4 after his blistering start. It was a lineup-wide quiet day, and Irvin β who entered with a career 9.70 ERA against the Cubs β deserves some credit for keeping them off balance with 7 strikeouts in 5 innings.
Wiemer Owned This Series
Give Joey Wiemer his due. The Nationals outfielder went 6-for-6 with 2 home runs, a triple, and 6 RBI in the two games he played against the Cubs this week. He's batting 1.000 on the season. He was the best player on the field in this series and it wasn't particularly close.
Up Next
The Cubs host the Los Angeles Angels on Monday to begin a three-game set at Wrigley. The Nationals head to Philadelphia. Cubs are 1-2. The Angels, who have won their first two games, come in feeling good about themselves. Time to right the ship.