DETROIT — Pete Crow-Armstrong made sure to rub it in.
He was still the leader in the team home-run race over Seiya Suzuki after the Cubs’ 6-1 win against the Tigers.
“I let him know today that he had to hit two, and I’ve still got him,” Crow-Armstrong said with a grin after the game. “I said, any day that he hits a home run, I’m going to have to do it, as well. I mean, if that turns into real motivation, then great.”
Suzuki and Crow-Armstrong accounted for three of the Cubs’ five home runs Saturday, with Michael Busch and Matt Shaw also chipping in.
With 17 home runs, Crow-Armstrong still has Suzuki’s 16 beat.
What was Suzuki’s reaction to Crow-Armstrong’s tongue-in-cheek boasting?
“I just treated him as a kid,” Suzuki said.
A pat on the head.
“Everything that Pete does is like a little kid,” Suzuki said. “So I feel like Pete is like my little brother.”
Asked if he was saying he was the power leader on the team, Suzuki said: “If you look at my body, yes.”
Let’s put it this way: When Suzuki hiked his pants up into short shorts for warmups one sunny afternoon at Wrigley Field, the sight inspired former Cubs utility player Nicky Lopez to shout out to him, “Look at those quads!”
Crow-Armstrong shook his head when presented with Suzuki’s description of their adult-child dynamic.
“That’s up for debate,” he said. “We can work that one out behind closed doors.”
That’s the kind of banter that can be expected in the Cubs’ dugout and clubhouse on a day like this after bouncing back from a tight loss the night before and outpitching and outhitting the Tigers.
Starting pitcher Jameson Taillon mowed down the Tigers for seven innings, limiting the left-handed-heavy lineup to three hits and one run. Seven of his last eight outings have been quality starts.
Suzuki homered in the first inning off Tigers left-handed opener Tyler Holton. And that stood as the only run until the fifth, when Busch pulled a two-run blast deep into the right-field stands.
Crow-Armstrong and Shaw hit solo shots in the seventh. Then Suzuki made up ground on his “little brother” with an eighth-inning no-doubter.
The Cubs’ five home runs tied the season high they set April 18 against the Diamondbacks. Suzuki was the only player to homer in both games.
Against Detroit, the Cubs’ home runs came from the third, fifth, seventh and eighth spots in their batting order.
“When you have Michael Busch hitting seventh, you know you’re a pretty good lineup,” Shaw said.
In time with Shaw, Crow-Armstrong called from the next locker over: “Pretty good!”
Shaw chuckled.
“We’re a deep lineup,” he said. “We have a lot of guys that can do a lot of special things on any given day.”
If that inspires a little internal competition, all the better.