NEW YORK – Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong once again showed the Mets they made a mistake trading him to Chicago in 2021. His three-run homer in the top of the second inning helped the Cubs beat the Mets, 9-6, at Citi Field on Tuesday night.
When Crow-Armstrong came to the plate to face right-hander Kodai Senga with runners on first and second, the Cubs already had a 2-0 lead, thanks to a bases-loaded walk from Carson Kelly and a sacrifice fly by Dansby Swanson.
Crow-Armstrong swung at a 1-0 pitch and hit the ball over the right-center-field wall to give Chicago the five-run cushion. It was Crow-Armstrong’s 17th home run of the season and fifth homer in his past six games.
“I thought the at-bats were really good from one through nine,” Crow-Armstrong said. “It was really good at-bats for nine straight innings -- great walks. We had three guys with two walks today. It was really good from pitch one to the last one.”
Chicago added to the lead two innings later when Swanson swung at a 1-2 pitch from Senga and hit a two-run homer over the left-field wall. Swanson, who entered the night hitting .183, went 2-for-3 with four RBIs. It was Swanson's second four-RBI game of the season, with the first occurring on April 24 against the Dodgers.
“That’s important,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said of Swanson's production. “With Pete going so well, just getting runners with Pete coming up, we’ve lacked that a little bit. Getting baserunners for Pete is important, too. Dansby swinging the bat helps that.”
Crow-Armstrong has certainly noticed that Swanson is improving in the batter’s box. In his past seven games, the Cubs' shortstop is 7-for-22 (.318) with two homers and seven RBIs.
“From the outside watching, he has been busting his tail all year, but the work is really looking good,” Crow-Armstrong said. “He has been walking a lot. Once he starts feeling like Dansby Swanson again, the at-bats are going to keep getting better.”
Cubs right-hander Edward Cabrera started the game and picked up his fifth win of the season, but it came at a price. He suffered a strain of both his left hamstring and left adductor and is expected to go on the 15-day injured list. Cabrera is scheduled to have imaging taken on Wednesday.
The injury occurred in the fifth inning with the Cubs up, 7-2. With runners on first and second and two outs, Mets left fielder Jared Young hit a ground ball between first and second. Second baseman Nico Hoerner slid and grabbed the ball before throwing to Cabrera, who stretched at first base and caught it to get Young for the final out of the inning.
But Cabrera stayed on the ground for several minutes clutching at his left leg. Though he got back up and hobbled for a few seconds, he was unable to move much and eventually had to be carted off the field.
With Cabrera potentially out for a lengthy period, Counsell expressed concern about Chicago's lack of pitching depth. The Cubs already have Jameson Taillon (left hamstring strain), Cade Horton (right UCL surgery) and Justin Steele (left elbow flexor strain) on the IL. In a bit of good news, left-hander Matthew Boyd is expected to come off the IL and pitch in Thursday’s series finale against New York.
“We are in a rough spot,” Counsell said. “I think we could get through it through the All-Star break. … It’s going to be a little bit of a puzzle until then.”