SAN DIEGO -- Pete Crow-Armstrong made a point on Tuesday night to praise manager Craig Counsell and the Cubs’ staff for keeping the center fielder in the lineup every day and maintaining a belief that he would pull out of his early season offensive lull.
“To repay them, I’d like to turn it around here shortly,” Crow-Armstrong said.
In a 5-4 victory over the Padres on Wednesday afternoon, Crow-Armstrong offered his thanks with a two-run homer off Padres righty Matt Waldron. It marked the second straight day with a blast for Crow-Armstrong, who had gone 77 plate appearances between deep flies when he delivered a game-changing, three-run shot in Tuesday’s win.
With the victory in the finale, the Cubs head into their Thursday off-day with a 3-3 showing on the road against the Dodgers and Padres -- a solid performance against two of the National League’s top teams.
Crow-Armstrong also had a hand in Chicago’s go-ahead run in Wednesday’s win. With runners on second and third in the sixth inning, Crow-Armstrong grounded out to Padres first baseman Ty France. Michael Conforto was running from third on the play, and was deemed safe on a headfirst slide at the plate as catcher Luis Campusano attempted to apply the tag.
That run gave the Cubs a 4-3 advantage after starter Jameson Taillon yielded a pair of two-out homers (a solo shot to Miguel Andujar and a two-run blast by Nick Castellanos) in the fifth to pull the game into a 3-3 tie. Those home runs came after Taillon had been perfect through the first 14 batters he faced.
In the eighth inning, Matt Shaw provided some insurance for the North Siders with a towering solo shot off San Diego reliever Jason Adam. The homer was the third of the season for Shaw, who finished a triple shy of a cycle in the victory.
The Cubs' rubber match win in San Diego marked the Padres' first series loss since March 30-April 1 against the Giants.