ANAHEIM, Calif. — The last person to give Pete Crow-Armstrong an encouraging pat before his last at-bat Friday was Kyle Tucker, who’d snapped his personal month-long homerless streak in the first inning.
“I felt a little bit freed up for him,” Crow-Armstrong said after the Cubs’ 3-2 win Friday against the Angels. “And I think that honestly probably contributed to me taking my fourth at-bat after not really doing anything.”
In that fourth at-bat, Crow-Armstrong lifted a no-doubter into the right-field seats at Angel Stadium, giving the Cubs the lead in the top of the ninth inning.
PETE CROW-ARMSTRONG DELIVERS 💥 pic.twitter.com/f2KAFtW0Ev
— MLB (@MLB) August 23, 2025
“Two guys that needed a big hit, and just getting them a contribution to a W on the offensive side, it makes everybody feel good,” manager Craig Counsell said after the game. “The game doesn’t grant you any favors. … You’ve got to keep coming out and keep trying to do it. And those guys got the two big hits tonight.”
That had been a common occurrence in the first half, when the Cubs’ offense was clicking, and Tucker and Crow-Armstrong were the engines behind that success.
But they’ve both been in slumps as of late. Tucker’s kicked off in July and Crow-Armstrong’s in August.
Neither had homered in their last 25 games, before they ended those streaks Saturday.
“Kyle, he’s so pro,” Crow-Armstrong said. “Any guy with a track record like that, you’re always just kind of waiting for that one swing from him. And he got us off to a good start tonight.”
Tucker’s facial expression was stoic as he rounded the bases after his first-inning home run landed over the right-field fence, but the visitors dugout was raucous.
“I haven’t done that in a while,” Tucker said. “So it was nice to be back doing that and helping us win.”
Touch ’em all, King Tuck! pic.twitter.com/Z9qMcpXyeu
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) August 23, 2025
It was the second-longest homerless streak of his career, coming in behind a 28-game stretch in 2018, his rookie season. Friday marked Tucker’s second day back from a three-game break.
In the ninth inning, as Crow-Armstrong stepped up to the plate against veteran reliever Kenley Jansen, Counsell could hear assistant hitting coach John Mallee “almost praying.”
“‘Make it your first one in a while,’ he said right before the pitch,” Counsell said. “He got a pitch to do something with, and did something good.”
After Cubs closer Daniel Palencia secured the save, Crow-Armstrong’s homer stood as the game-winner.
“That feeling of contributing, that’s what I’m looking forward to build off of,” Crow-Armstrong said. “I haven’t played my part up to this point since the [All-Star] break. So, it’s definitely a feeling to build off of.”
