CHICAGO – Pete Crow-Armstrong has joked in the past that he has not put up the best numbers when the Wrigley Field crowd unites in chanting his initials. That perceived trend has not continued with the new chants that roar through the Friendly Confines these days.
When Crow-Armstrong was in the batter’s box in the seventh inning Wednesday night, the calls of “M-V-P! M-V-P!” were already gathering steam. A few seconds later, as the Cubs’ star center fielder rounded the bases after his second home run of the evening, the repetitive cries had become deafening.
In an 8-4 victory over the Braves, Crow-Armstrong continued his assault on the Cubs’ record book and further padded his case to take home the National League’s Most Valuable Player trophy after this incredible campaign. He had a familiar sidekick in Alex Bregman, who finished a single short of the cycle to also help back a quality start from Shota Imanaga.
With the win, the Cubs maintained their half-game lead over the Phillies for the NL’s top Wild Card spot. That said, Chicago owns the tiebreaker over Philadelphia by winning the season series, taking six of seven games against the Phillies in April.
Crow-Armstrong’s two home runs pushed him past Cubs icon and Hall of Famer Billy Williams for the most homers by a left-handed hitter in team history. Williams launched 42 in 1970. Crow-Armstrong added an RBI triple, giving him 81 extra-base hits on the season. That also topped Williams’ single-season club record in that category (80 in 1970) for a lefty batter.
Per MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, this marked the 10th time in Crow-Armstrong’s career that he has collected at least 10 total bases in a game. That is now three more such games than any other player before turning 25 years old, dating back to at least 1900. Only Williams and Sammy Sosa (12 apiece) have more in a Cubs career.
Crow-Armstrong has also tied Nelson Cruz (six in 2019) for the most games with at least 10 total bases in a single season in MLB history, since at least 1900.
Entering play on Wednesday, Crow-Armstrong (4.0) and Bregman (3.1) ranked first and third in the Majors, respectively, during the second half in WAR, per Fangraphs. They have been arguably the top one-two punch in baseball for the past few months and were at it again in the win over the Braves, who are trying to secure the NL East title.
Bregman got the Cubs’ lineup rolling with an RBI double off JR Ritchie in the first inning. Crow-Armstrong then launched his 43rd homer of the season in the third. Bregman followed suit with a leadoff homer (his 26th blast of the year) in the fourth against Ritchie. In the fifth, both Crow-Armstrong and Bregman delivered run-scoring triples to help Chicago pull away.