ST. LOUIS – Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong chased down a deep fly ball off the bat of Alec Burleson in the fourth inning on Tuesday night, making a smooth catch on the warning track, where he spun against the wall as he slowed down.
Crow-Armstrong was ready to jog back to the visitors’ dugout at Busch Stadium – except it was not the final out of the frame.
“Simple as that,” Crow-Armstrong said.
One of the best defenders in baseball, Crow-Armstrong made a rare mental mistake that loomed large given its timing in an 8-7 loss to the rival Cardinals. His blunder led to the decisive run for St. Louis, sending the North Siders to their fifth loss in six games and shrinking the Cubs’ lead atop the National League Central to 2 1/2 games.
At the time of Burleson’s long drive to the wall in straightaway center, Masyn Winn was on second base for the Cardinals. He tagged up and was off and running when Crow-Armstrong made the catch, and Winn was well on his way to scoring by the time the center fielder realized his gaffe and hurriedly tried to get the ball back in.
“He lost track of the outs. It’s just a mistake,” manager Craig Counsell said.
It was a mistake that put an eighth run on the line of Cubs starter Jameson Taillon, who lasted just four innings in the loss. The right-hander also allowed home runs to Lars Nootbaar (two-run shot in the second), Winn (two-run shot in the third) and Nolan Gorman (solo shot in the fourth), so the play involving Crow-Armstrong was not the pitcher’s only concern.
This is where it is also worth noting that Crow-Armstrong entered the evening with a 10 Outs Above Average and a Fielding Run Value of 10, per Statcast, plus 10 Defensive Runs Saved. Offensively, the 23-year-old center fielder has launched 21 homers and stolen 24 bases, while pacing the NL in fWAR (4.0).
“He’s been so good for us this year,” Taillon said. “Obviously, he’s one of the best defenders in baseball. That’s just a freak thing. He takes a lot of pride in his defense, takes a lot of pride in being a great teammate, so I’m not too worried about it. I was more mad at myself for giving up the homers and giving up a lot of hard contact.
“I’m not too concerned with the eighth run I gave up. I’m concerned with all eight. I’m sure it won’t happen again. He’s been so good for us.”
Winn’s run in the fourth pushed the Cardinals to an 8-5 lead, overcoming the five-run outburst by the Cubs’ offense in the third. In that flurry, Kyle Tucker delivered a two-run single with the bases loaded and Seiya Suzuki followed with a three-run blast, moving him into a tie with Crow-Armstrong for the team lead in homers.
After a two-run homer in the sixth by Nico Hoerner – who had not cleared a fence since Sept. 25 last year – Crow-Armstrong had a shot at redemption in the seventh. Trailing by one run, and with runners on the corners with one out, Crow-Armstrong tried to catch lefty reliever JoJo Romero by surprise with a bunt.
“That was an attempt for a little push bunt, trying to bunt for a base hit,” Crow-Armstrong said. “But I didn’t do a good job of playing the game of baseball today."
Crow-Armstrong wound up chopping the ball back to Romero and running into a sacrifice, moving Suzuki up to second, but falling short of his objective. Dansby Swanson then flew out into foul ground, where Burleson hustled from right field to make a leaping catch into the side netting.
With one more shot in the ninth, Tucker singled with one out and Crow-Armstrong singled and stole second. Once again, the stage was set for Swanson, but he grounded out to Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado to put the period on the loss.
The Cubs have now gone 8-11 in their past 19 games, following a stretch in which they went 15-4 in the previous 19 games.
“So much about a season,” Swanson said, “is just being able to weather times when you feel like you’re not playing up to your best as a group. And I know this group’s obviously tough enough to get over it.”
What was Crow-Armstrong’s plan for mentally turning the page?
“Go to sleep and wake up,” he said.