The postseason had not been kind to Pete Crow-Armstrong, until Wednesday at least.
The Chicago Cubs‘ All-Star centerfielder finally came through with a clutch two-run single that highlighted a four-run first inning in their season-saving 4-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 3 of the NLDS at Wrigley Field.
Chicago cut the the Brewers’ series advantage to 2-1 in the best-of-5 series. Game 4 will be Thursday again in Chicago.
Pete Crow-Armstrong Finally Practiced Patience, and It Paid Off
Crow-Armstrong is one of the wildest swingers in all of baseball, and opposing pitchers have been using his aggressiveness against him in October.
Crow-Armstrong was tied for 80th among qualifying major-league outfielders in walks (28) during the regular season, and he was 140th among all qualifying major-league hitters in walk rate (4.5 percent).
He led the majors in swing rate (60.1 percent), which was fifth among all hitters in the past six seasons. That all led to the All-Star slashing a uniform .222/.222/.222 with one RBI and 10 strikeouts over 18 at-bats in Chicago’s first five postseason games.
So with runners on first and second and two out, and the score deadlocked at 1 after Cubs leadoff hitter Michael Busch knotted the score with a leadoff homer, Crow-Armstrong came to the plate trying to shake off his 1 for 8 start to the NLDS.
“That’s the goal every time, to take advantage of moments where guys [get on base] in front of you,” Crow-Armstrong said. “Michael hitting the homer just added so much comfort for the rest of the inning because it’s 0-0 again.”
Crow-Armstrong over-aggressively swung over a first-pitch slider and seemed poised to get himself out again. Yet, he worked the count in his favor by laying off consecutive balls in the dirt then scorched a slider to right field for a single that put Chicago ahead 3-1 — a huge, two-out hit that seemed to turn the series’ momentum.
“We haven’t really played with a lead, really the entire [post]season,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “We had Priester on the ropes, and we had great at-bats getting to that point. Finishing innings is important. Adding on runs is important, those crooked numbers are super-important and sometimes that’s the chance you get.”
“We put up a big number in an inning, and it held up.”
Brewers manager Pat Murphy also admitted how important Crow-Armstrong’s single was to the game.
“A huge hit at a huge time,” Murphy said. “Very clutch.”
Murphy pulled Priester after Crow-Armstrong’s single, which required their bullpen to get 25 outs — a day before they may need to go with a bullpen game in Game 4.
“That’s kind of what we’re trying to do,” Busch said. “We’re just trying to have good at-bat after good at bat and kind of put pressure on them.
“The more you get guys on base and runners in scoring position, the better off you are.”
Pete Crow-Armstrong Has Come Up Huge In Elimination Games
Say what you want about Crow-Armstrong’s struggles this postseason, but he has come through huge in elimination games this October.
Of his five hits this postseason, four have come in games where the Cubs’ season could have ended — he went 3 for 4 with a clutch, icebreaking RBI single in Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series against the San Diego Padres.
“I’ve been pretty fortunate in a couple of these elimination games to just have pretty nice opportunities with guys on base,” Crow-Armstrong said. “That makes this job just a little bit easier sometimes.”
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