Crow-Armstrong slugs 2 homers to make MVP case

As Pete Crow-Armstrong came up with the bases loaded in the eighth inning, the Wrigley Field crowd chanted “M-V-Pete” — and not for the first time on Wednesday night.

The fans serenaded the Chicago star after his first home run, his 43rd to break Billy Williams’ Cubs record for left-handed hitters. They made their feelings known after his RBI triple and after his 44th home run.

Even when Crow-Armstrong struck out on five pitches in the eighth, he still received a standing ovation on his way back to the dugout at the end of a 3 for 4 night with three RBIs and three runs in an 8-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves, his seventh multi-home-run game of the season.

The Chicago Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run against the Atlanta Braves at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Wednesday.

Photo: AFP

With Shohei Ohtani still on the injured list with right biceps inflammation, Crow-Armstrong keeps hitting homers, closing in on the first 40-40 season in Cubs history, putting the finishing touches on his Most Valuable Player (MVP) case, at least as far as Cubs fans are concerned.

“You’re shaking your head in amazement, sometimes,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “In amazement. You know, you don’t get to see this. That’s what I told Alex [Bregman]: ‘We don’t get to see things like this.’ You spend your whole life in baseball and you just don’t see this happen on a baseball field.”

Yet as he has gone from breakthrough player to MVP candidate to MVP favorite, Crow-Armstrong has been unfazed by the pressure, his performance unwavering as the Cubs chase a wild-card spot.

“I keep it pretty simple,” Crow-Armstrong said. “I enjoy just kind of laying low, as I always do and always will. I’ve got a really nice support system.”

Only one home run behind the Philadelphia Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber for the major league lead, Crow-Armstrong is hitting. 283 with 105 RBIs, 29 doubles and 37 stolen bases to go with Gold Glove-caliber defense in center field.

Crow-Armstrong’s breakthrough season at age 24 has him at or near the top of every offensive metric in the National League while also tapping out the vocabulary of Wednesday’s winning starter, Shota Imanaga.

“We can always say he’s great, or he’s excellent, but really there’s no words to describe him,” Imanaga said through an interpreter. “So I’ll think of a new word in English for that.”

In New York, Pete Alonso’s storybook return to Citi Field continued after he hit another home run against his former team, sparking another important win for the late-charging Baltimore Orioles and earning himself another ovation from Mets fans still smarting over his departure last year.

The slugger’s first-inning drive was the first of four home runs for the Orioles, who beat the Mets 7-1 to finish a three-game sweep and move within 2-1/2 games of the Chicago White Sox for the last American League playoff berth.

Elsewhere, the Cleveland Guardians took sole possession of first place in the American League Central with a 6-3 victory over the White Sox, while the Cincinnati Reds beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 and the Milwaukee Brewers sank the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-4 to sweep the series.

The San Francisco Giants pipped the St Louis Cardinals 6-5 in 10 innings, the Minnesota Twins outlasted the New York Yankees 5-4 in 13 innings, the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Athletics 4-3, the Phillies blanked the Nationals 3-0 and the San Diego Padres rocked the Colorado Rockies 9-3.

The Miami Marlins held off the Arizona Diamondbacks for a 4-3 victory, the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Detroit Tigers 5-1 to salvage the finale of their three-game series, the Kansas City Royals beat the Houston Astros 5-2, the Texas Rangers shot down the Boston Red Sox 7-3 and the Seattle Mariners overcame the Los Angeles Angels 7-2.