CHICAGO — Chicago Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong etched his name into team history Monday night, joining legendary slugger Hack Wilson in the Cubs’ record books — though he almost turned the celebration sour at Wrigley Field.
Crow-Armstrong became the first player in all of Major League Baseball to hit for the cycle this season, completing the milestone with a single in the seventh inning. Moments later, however, Colorado Rockies reliever Brennan Bernardino picked him off first base in what was a one-run ballgame.
“My excitement was a little short-lived,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said with a quip, following his team’s two-run rally in the bottom of the ninth that secured a 5-4 victory.
The 24-year-old center fielder had come close to the achievement just days earlier, falling one hit short of the cycle Saturday in San Francisco. On Monday, he wasted no time, launching a leadoff home run in the opening inning, then tripling off the outfield wall on a nearly identical trajectory in the third. He followed that up with a double down the right-field line in the fifth.
When Crow-Armstrong stepped to the plate to lead off the seventh needing only a single, he said his mindset was more composed than it might have been earlier in his career.
“Earlier, it probably made me a little nervous,” Crow-Armstrong said. “I felt like I ‘had to’ instead of ‘I get to’ hit in this really cool moment with this crowd of 40,000 pulling for me. I think I’m learning to use that to my advantage instead of me shaking in my boots when I’m up there and wanting to get the job done so badly. It’s also a regular thing at Wrigley. That happens a lot.”
With the crowd fully aware of what was on the line, Crow-Armstrong drove a 1-1 fastball from Bernardino into right field to complete the 13th cycle in Cubs franchise history and only the second since 1993.
He and Wilson are the only two Cubs center fielders to accomplish the feat since 1901. Wilson’s cycle came on June 23, 1930.
“I know it’s a rare feat,” Crow-Armstrong said.
He continued to contribute after the milestone, adding a key sacrifice fly in the eighth inning that trimmed Colorado’s lead to 4-3 — setting the stage for the Cubs’ ninth-inning comeback.
“I absolutely put up great at-bats tonight and I’m proud of the production that I’ve helped have over the past few weeks,” Crow-Armstrong said. “But you saw it tonight: The game’s not over until it’s over. I did everything I could to help the team. But I also had a real lapse in focus and that really could have hurt us tonight. That’s what I’m talking about. Not going to dwell on that. Something so simple as someone gets in your ear and says that can’t ever happen again, and it can’t ever happen again.”
The performance extended Crow-Armstrong’s on-base streak to 19 consecutive games dating back to May 26, with hits in 18 of those contests. Over that stretch, he is batting .402 with seven doubles, three triples, seven home runs, and 12 RBIs.
Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga offered perhaps the most fitting tribute to his teammate’s recent run of play.
“Watching him every day, he’s a player who overcomes your imagination,” Imanaga said through an interpreter.
