Pete Crow-Armstrong entered Monday night’s contest against the Colorado Rockies already on a tear at the plate, but the Chicago Cubs center fielder took things to a truly historic level in what turned into a night to remember at Wrigley Field.
Crow-Armstrong’s Historic Night
Riding a five-game hit streak and carrying a batting average of .392 in June, Crow-Armstrong got things going in a hurry on Monday with a leadoff home run to right-center field. In his next at-bat, he launched a ball on a nearly identical line, but didn’t quite catch enough of it to leave the yard, ultimately picking up a triple.
With a home run and triple already in his back pocket through three innings, talk of potentially hitting for the cycle was inevitable. Those whispers turned into roars in the bottom of the fifth inning when PCA sent a screamer down the first-base line and cruised into second for a double.
All that was left was a single, for not only the old-fashioned cycle, but for the extremely rare reverse cycle. PCA needed to see just three pitches in the bottom of the seventh inning to send a line drive into right-center field, and history was officially made.
According to Cubs historian Ed Hartig, Crow-Armstrong became the first player in franchise history to complete a cycle in reverse order.
Immediately after accomplishing the unforgettable moment, the former All-Star made a mistake at first base he later explained could not happen. Crow-Armstrong was picked off at first after completing the cycle in what was a key situation, as the Cubs only led the contest 2-1 at that point.
Fortunately, PCA got another opportunity at the plate in the bottom of the eighth frame with Colorado leading 4-2, and the center fielder came up clutch to keep Chicago’s hopes alive. With Matt Shaw on third base with one out, Crow-Armstrong delivered a sacrifice fly to score his teammate and cut the lead to just one run.
While PCA was responsible for essentially all of the Cubs’ good fortune through eight innings, one could argue the baseball gods delivered the goods in the bottom of the ninth.
Second baseman Pedro Ramirez connected for an RBI single with the bases loaded and nobody out to tie things up at 4-4. Colorado reliever Seth Halvorsen gift-wrapped Chicago’s win in the very next at-bat by walking Shaw on five pitches and bringing in the game-winning run.
Chicago is no stranger to dramatic wins this season, as Monday night’s walk-off marked its ninth of the season, which leads all of Major League Baseball.
Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
