Pete Crow-Armstrong homers twice, joins 30-30 club and gives Cubs walk-off win vs. White Sox: ‘Pete’s my MVP’
It’s Pete Crow-Armstrong’s world, and baseball is just living in it.
That’s how it’s felt plenty of times during this MVP-caliber season by the Cubs’ center fielder, and he put another big exclamation point on his award case Monday, smacking a pair of home runs, the second of which went as the walk-off winner in his team’s 7-5 extra-inning victory over the Crosstown-rival White Sox.
Crow-Armstrong’s blast sent him into the 30-30 club for the second consecutive season and delivered the Cubs their 12th walk-off win of the season at Wrigley Field.
“This is what great players do,” manager Craig Counsell said. “We’ve got a number of these moments during the season from Pete. It’s a great-player moment. They step up in situations like this.”
It was a back-and-forth classic between two Chicago clubs with realistic playoff aspirations.
“It’s really frickin’ cool that we get to put that product out on the field together and go compete,” Crow-Armstrong said. “It’s really good for the city having both of us playing the kind of baseball we are and putting games out there like we did tonight.”
Crow-Armstrong started the scoring with the first of back-to-back homers in the first inning. Lefty starter Shota Imanaga gave up his 29th long ball of the season, a three-run shot that sent the Sox in front, only for the Cubs to strike back, scoring twice on a tapped grounder and throwing error.
Andrew Benintendi smacked a late, game-flipping homer off trade-deadline add Ryan Zeferjahn, only for Nico Hoerner to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth ahead of Crow-Armstrong’s walk-off blast an inning later.
A lot happened in between all that, too, as the Cubs and Sox keep delivering sensational games and memorable finishes. Crow-Armstrong’s walk-off blast will join an ever-growing list of huge Crosstown moments, this one big enough to stand out in a season full of them from the MVP candidate.
“I don’t think I’ve ever met a player like that,” Imanaga said through an interpreter. “You watch him play, make the fantastic plays that he does, and you’re not really surprised. But the expectations that you may have or a fan may have for him, he always surpasses it. It’s been incredible.”
“Pete’s my MVP,” righty reliever Jacob Webb said.
Cubs fans and Sox fans swarmed Wrigley Field to watch the highly anticipated rivalry game. Fans wore Cubs or Sox gear, repping their preferred Chicago team. But a few couldn’t decide which one to choose.
A sampling of Chicago baseball fans were choosing love over hate Monday, basking in the glow of the city’s pair of playoff-dreaming clubs. But if there’s a rematch come October? The rivalry might get ratcheted right back up.
Wrigleyville was buzzing about this week’s Crosstown series, but the Cubs were dealing with bigger-picture problems than the White Sox on Monday, putting their starting shortstop and their big offseason trade acquisition on the injured list in the thick of a playoff race.