MILWAUKEE — By the time Pete Crow-Armstrong stepped in the batter’s box in the ninth inning Friday night at American Family Field, already with a multihomer game, a Milwaukee Brewers position player greeted him on the mound.
Crow-Armstrong’s solo home run in the second was part of a seven-run inning, two batters after Michael Busch slugged his first career grand slam, and he delivered another solo shot in the seventh as the Cubs’ exclamation mark in a 10-0 blowout of the Brewers. The largely pro-Cubs crowd among the 34,559 fans broke out in “PCA!” chants following each home run and by the end of the game it became a “Let’s go, Cubbies!” party in the first meeting of the season between the division foes.
The two-home-run night was his second in Crow-Armstrong’s last 16 games, a torrid stretch in which the 23-year-old is hitting .349 with a .359 on-base percentage and .857 slugging percentage. He had a great chance for his first three-homer game when Brewers infielder Jake Bauers took over in the ninth.
Crow-Armstrong joked he was ready to charge the mound after Bauer’s first pitch, clocked at 54.4 mph, buzzed his head and quipped to catcher Eric Haase if that was on purpose.
“But, nah, I’m not thinking homer,” Crow-Armstrong said. “I’d be foolish to do so, I’d probably fall down swinging or something.”
In the last three weeks, Crow-Armstrong has hit more home runs (eight) than singles (seven).
“It’s nice kind of seeing myself grow into my power, or just being able to use it properly,” Crow-Armstrong said. “But doubles is what I want at the end of the day. Doubles is what I’m going for hitting to the big part of the field. … Being able to utilize that power is nice, but it’s just baseball. I’m just trying to hit the ball to the big part of the field.”
The Cubs’ major-league leading 202 runs are their third most through the first 33 games since 1901, bested only by the franchise’s 1938 (203 runs) and 1929 (215) teams. The 2016 World Series squad had 196 runs in that span.
The Cubs (20-13) scored at least 10 runs for the eighth time this season.
“Not to discredit myself, I’ve been saying this a bunch recently, like, it’s so easy to hit in this lineup, I just feel so confident going up to the plate in the 7-hole, talking about flying under the radar,” Crow-Armstrong said. “I feel like I can kind of hide in there in a way because it’s so easy to want to go have a good at-bat and when you’ve got eight other guys that can really do it behind you and in front of you.”
Before the game, manager Craig Counsell praised Busch, who came into the series opener with a .282/.373/.515 slash line and 150 OPS+, and noted how “there’s a consistency to it that almost makes you not realize how good he is.”
Busch’s maturation as a hitter was evident in the at-bat leading to his grand slam. After taking right-hander Quinn Priester’s curveball outside for a called strike two, Busch went after the same pitch that had moved a couple of inches closer to the edge of the plate and went with it for the opposite-field home run and a devastating blow to the Brewers.
“I feel like I’ve done a decent job just trying to minimize the lows and stay as consistent as I can throughout the season,” Busch said. “Month one’s done, but moving on to the next one, and just kind of keep going. And I think that experience is good, talking to guys is good, but continuing to keep going month by month, day by day, honestly.”
Right-hander Ben Brown made sure the Cubs’ early big lead wasn’t wasted. He pounded the strike zone, especially with his four-seam fastball that recorded 17 called strikes, and scattered four hits in six innings. Brown knew he needed to give the Cubs quality innings in this type of game, and he delivered.
“Obviously I know it’s at stake here,” Brown said. “I have a really good opportunity on this team, and I don’t want that to go away. I want to contribute. I want to be there for this team. I want to save the bullpen. I want to do things that I have to do. I want to win ballgames, and I’ve got to pitch better. So that’s been the focus this whole week is getting back on track.
“Today was probably the closest I felt to where I was at last year, just from a command standpoint and attack standpoint, where my curveball is at.”
