The Wrigley Field video board showed a couple young fans holding up a sign:<\/p>\n
\u201cPCA, we skipped school to see you do a home run.\u201d<\/p>\n
Their grammar suggests the truants maybe should have gone to class.<\/p>\n
But can you blame them? Pete Crow-Armstrong won\u2019t stop rewarding Cubs fans who\u2019d rather watch him electrify Wrigley Field than wait for the school bell to ring.<\/p>\n
The center fielder continued his offensive onslaught, hitting a three-run homer as the centerpiece of a six-run second inning, and finished the day with four hits and six RBIs in the Cubs\u2019 13-3 win over the Crosstown-rival White Sox on Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a really special player,\u201d Cubs starting pitcher Cade Horton said after the game. \u201cI watched him play in high school. I always knew he was going to be a star, but this year, he\u2019s really found a groove and it\u2019s awesome to watch.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s an overall great baseball player. He works hard. He knows what he\u2019s good at. He\u2019s going to cause chaos on the bases. He\u2019s going to hit home runs. He\u2019s going to make plays in center. He\u2019s got all the tools.\u201d<\/p>\n
Horton was supposed to be the featured player Friday as he made his first major league start, the Cubs turning to one of the top-ranked pitching prospects in baseball to help in their fight for survival with Justin Steele out for the season and Shota Imanaga on the injured list.<\/p>\n
But the Cubs\u2019 relentless bats stole the show, arguing that the best way for the team to survive without those top two arms is to let this lineup cook.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the best part about this lineup,\u201d Crow-Armstrong said, \u201conce it starts, once we get going, it\u2019s really fun to be a part of and it\u2019s hard to stop us.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was the case Friday, the Cubs erasing the 2-0 lead the Sox built on a first-inning homer with that six-run second. They tied the game on back-to-back grounders before Crow-Armstrong\u2019s three-run homer broke the tie and Wrigley Field erupted.<\/p>\n
From a big blow to death by a thousand cuts, the Lakeview wind wreaked havoc on the Sox\u2019 defense, and the Cubs tacked on seven more runs across their final three tips to the plate.<\/p>\n
Crow-Armstrong added RBI hits in the sixth and seventh innings in the wake of his big blast, his 12th long ball of the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s playing at a really high level right now,\u201d manager Craig Counsell said. \u201cIt\u2019s fun to see a player take another step. He\u2019s taken a step defensively. He\u2019s taken a big step offensively. It\u2019s an impact player.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ability with the home run now, that\u2019s probably a pretty big surprise. But you need surprises. It\u2019s an important one. \u2026 The ball\u2019s exploding off his bat.\u201d<\/p>\n
It made life a lot easier for Horton, who couldn\u2019t solve Miguel Vargas \u2013 the Sox\u2019 third baseman hit two homers and drove in all three of their runs \u2013 but was otherwise effective. He allowed three runs on seven hits but walked none, with a couple strikeouts, on 79 pitches across five innings.<\/p>\n
Two outings and nine innings into his big league career, Horton hasn\u2019t walked anyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, I think he\u2019s truly ready [to have success in the major leagues]. He\u2019s a workhorse,\u201d reliever Chris Flexen told the Sun-Times before the game. \u201cI think he\u2019s got a good head on his shoulders to be able to handle stress, positives, negatives, all of it. It\u2019s pretty impressive to see at that age.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s promising for the Cubs in the long term, as the 23-year-old Horton \u2013 the No. 7 overall pick in the 2022 draft \u2013 has expectations that stretch well beyond the 2025 campaign, even as they look for options to address their starting-pitching needs.<\/p>\n
As Horton continues to develop at the big league level, though, he\u2019s got quite the luxury in his hot-hitting teammates.<\/p>\n
And, in Crow-Armstrong, the one teammate that can do anything.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope he liked his first taste of Wrigley,\u201d Crow-Armstrong said, \u201cbecause he\u2019s going to do this for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Crow-Armstrong homered, had four hits and drove in six runs in a 13-3 rout of the crosstown rivals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":55679,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n