Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong soaked in the moment while jogging to his position for the fifth inning Wednesday.
Cubs fans in the bleachers greeted him with “PCA! PCA!” chants after Crow-Armstrong slugged a go-ahead three-run home run into the left-center basket in the bottom of the fourth against the Los Angeles Dodgers, prompting the 23-year-old to tip his cap to the crowd.
The home run was just one of the budding star’s electric moments in a 7-6 victory that gave the Cubs the season series win over the Dodgers.
“That’s one of my favorite parts of my day,” Crow-Armstrong said of the chant. “That’s the coolest thing ever. I’ve seen Ian (Happ) do it so many times where he hit a homer and they all give him that ovation, and it’s really cool.
“It’s a one-of-a-kind place that we play in, and I just really enjoy showing up every day and going to play center field.”
Crow-Armstrong finished with three of the Cubs’ eight hits, stole two bases and robbed Tommy Edman of potentially extra bases with the tying run at first base when he caught the liner to left-center field on the run to end the seventh. He made the play, which had a 10% catch probability according to Statcast, look routine.
Crow-Armstrong’s 1.7 fWAR through Wednesday is tied with San Diego’s Fernando Tatis Jr. for third-best in the majors, behind Arizona’s Corbin Carroll (1.9) and the Yankees’ Aaron Judge (2.5).
“It’s what special players are capable of, impacting all areas of the game: swinging the bat, power, baserunning, defense,” manager Craig Counsell said. “It was a wonderful game, and he made his presence felt in a big way for sure.”
Photos: Chicago Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-6 to take the season series
Dodgers pitchers will be happy to not see Crow-Armstrong for the rest of the regular season. In seven games against Los Angeles, Crow-Armstrong is 10-for-29 with two doubles, one triple and four home runs. Seven of Crow-Armstrong’s 17 RBIs this year have come in the last two days against the Dodgers, including a career-high four Wednesday.
“I mean, they are regarded as the best, and I think we’ve enjoyed being able to show that we’re right there with them,” Crow-Armstrong said. “And it was a little extra special for me getting to do it against the team I grew up going to see.”
Left-hander Matthew Boyd didn’t have his best stuff but still logged a quality start by going six innings and giving up three earned runs (six total runs) to get to the back end of the Cubs’ bullpen. Right-handers Daniel Palencia, Julian Merryweather and Porter Hodge combined for three shutout innings and allowed just one batter to reach.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to play in front of some amazing center fielders, and he’s the top of it — defensively, I’ve gotta say, he’s probably the best,” said Boyd, who’s on his fifth big-league team and 11 years into his MLB career. “And what he’s doing at the plate is no surprise.”
The Cubs have scored 163 runs through their first 26 games, the second-most in franchise history (179 runs in 1929). That feat is even more impressive considering the level of teams the Cubs faced during that stretch. They have played the toughest schedule in baseball and yet only two MLB teams have more wins than the Cubs (16-10): the New York Mets (18) and San Diego Padres (17).
Their .615 winning percentage is fifth-best in the majors. Although the schedule still presents a challenge over the next two weeks with four of their next five series against the Philadelphia Phillies, Milwaukee Brewers, San Francisco Giants and Mets, the Cubs’ performance has put the league on notice.
“That’s the reason why I signed here, and it’s the reason what we all believe is to dream big in that sense,” Boyd said. “Yeah, we want to be a team that is playing at the end of October. Now, there’s a lot to do until then, right? You dream big and you put your vision on that, but you get back to what’s the goal today. We’ve got to do that, and there’s a lot of baseball to be played until then, but we believe in what we have in this clubhouse, and that’s what matters.
“Take on the next day when it comes, and stack that together one after another.”