Center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong gave the fans something to chant about twice in an inning as the Cubs beat the Brewers 5-3 on Tuesday to open a series between National League Central rivals at Wrigley Field.<\/p>\n
In the top of the eighth, Crow-Armstrong robbed Brice Turang of a double. He cut off a line drive in the gap in left-center field and made a diving catch, holding on to the ball as he somersaulted to his feet.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018P-C-A!\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Crow-Armstrong then led off the bottom of the eighth with a home run off the right-field scoreboard on the first pitch he saw.<\/p>\n
What started as chants of \u2018\u2018P-C-A!\u2019\u2019 morphed into those of \u2018\u2018M-V-P!\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018That\u2019s the best right there,\u2019\u2019 Crow-Armstrong said of the fan support. \u2018\u2018It\u2019s so personable and just feels super-real and cool.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
In the Cubs\u2019 first game since MLB\u2019s All-Star balloting update showed Crow-Armstrong leading NL outfielders in voting, he showed the impact he can make at the plate and in the field.<\/p>\n
His catch made a perfect inning possible for left-handed reliever Caleb Thielbar. His homer gave the Cubs welcomed insurance after four consecutive low-scoring games against the Pirates.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018He\u2019s playing at as high a level as I\u2019ve seen a center fielder play,\u2019\u2019 manager Craig Counsell said.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s three decades of major-league experience as a player, executive and manager talking.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018He\u2019ll play so hard, no matter what,\u2019\u2019 said Cubs starting pitcher Ben Brown, who held the Brewers to two runs in five innings. \u2018\u2018As a team, we\u2019re just incredibly blessed to have him out in center field.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
On a humid night with the wind blowing out, the only runs Brown allowed came on a two-run homer by Isaac Collins in the second inning.<\/p>\n
The Cubs cut the Brewers\u2019 lead to 2-1 in the bottom half of the inning when Nico Hoerner scored from first base on Matt Shaw\u2019s line-drive double into the gap in right-center field.<\/p>\n
Then they got their big swing from Seiya Suzuki in the fifth.<\/p>\n
With one out, Ian Happ drew a walk before Kyle Tucker hit a towering fly ball that threatened to leave the ballpark. The ball had a little too much loft, however, and it hit the wall on the way down and kicked out for a double. Suzuki followed with a no-doubt homer to give the Cubs a 4-2 lead.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018That was the hit of the game,\u2019\u2019 Crow-Armstrong said.<\/p>\n
Reflecting the Cubs\u2019 recent string of close games, Suzuki\u2019s homer ended a streak of 36 consecutive innings during which they had finished within one run of their opponent. It was the Cubs\u2019 longest such streak since August 2003, team historian Ed Hartig said.<\/p>\n
Suzuki briefly pulled even with Crow-Armstrong for the team lead with 18 homers before Crow-Armstrong took back the distinction by himself.<\/p>\n
After the Brewers pulled to 4-3 on an RBI single by Joey Ortiz in the sixth, Crow-Armstrong sent a cutter over the right-field wall in the eighth to close the scoring.<\/p>\n
At an estimated 452 feet and with an exit velocity of 111.5 mph, according to Statcast, it was the longest homer and hardest-hit ball of Crow-Armstrong\u2019s career.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Cubs beat the Brewers 5-3 with major contributions from the expected All-Star.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":62286,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n