Inside The Cubs

Pete Crow-Armstrong's Incredible Defense Locks Up Cubs' Massive Series Win

An incredible defensive performance by Pete Crow-Armstrong on Tuesday was able to secure a huge series win for the Chicago Cubs against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Brad Wakai

Jun 24, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Chicago Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong (52) dives for the ball during the ninth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park. All Giants players wore the number 24 in honor of Giants former player Willie Mays
Jun 24, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Chicago Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong (52) dives for the ball during the ninth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park. All Giants players wore the number 24 in honor of Giants former player Willie Mays / Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images
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Chicago Cubs fans have been clamoring for Pete Crow-Armstrong to get consistent reps in center field ever since he was performing well at the Triple-A level.

Even when it was clear his offense had a lot of work to do before he could be an everyday starter in the lineup, his defensive ability always made him considered to be someone who could be a future cornerstone of this franchise.

On Tuesday night, that was on full display.

The Cubs have fought their way back into the Wild Card race, and while they are still a longshot to get in based on how few games are remaining in the regular season, they have a fighting chance if they continue to win.

They started off this massive series against the Los Angeles Dodgers with a bang, getting huge performances from Cody Bellinger and Michael Busch that had to be a sweet feeling of revenge against their former team.

But on Tuesday, Chicago was facing a deficit after Shota Imanaga gave up three solo home runs that put them into a 3-1 as their lineup was struggling to hit the returning rookie phenom Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Fortunately, the Cubs were able to find their bats when the Dodgers pulled their starter from the game after four innings where he struck out eight hitters on 59 pitches.

It took a little bit, but Chicago was able to get after Los Angeles' bullpen, getting their first two men on base in the eighth inning with a walk and throwing error.

Seiya Suzuki came through in the clutch, singling home Ian Happ before Dansby Swanson joined him across home plate on a throwing error by the outfield that tied things up at three.

Following Bellinger's intentional walk and Isaac Paredes' strike out, Busch broke the gridlock with a grounder to second base that was botched by Kike Hernandez when trying to tag out Bellinger running to second that allowed Suzuki to score.

The Cubs broke things open after that, scoring a run on Nico Hoerner's double and another when Crow-Armstrong grounded out to second.

Chicago ultimately won because of that late-game explosion, holding onto a 6-3 victory.

However, the story coming out of this contest is the incredible defense that Crow-Armstrong displayed in center field, ending the game by robbing a two-run homer attempt from Max Muncy.

It was a remarkable grab, avoiding the fan attempting to catch the ball and snatching it up with his glove to secure this important victory for the Cubs.

But that might not have even been his best catch of the game.

The former top prospect made two other eye-popping catches in center field, the first being one where he raced across the field to make a sliding grab that had a 5% chance of being an out.

That one proved to be huge as it certainly would have extended the Dodgers' lead if that ball were to get down, which would have made it much for difficult for Chicago to come back and win this game.

Crow-Armstrong wasn't done there, though.

Later in the contest, he made an usual play that seemed to be a result of confusion between himself and Bellinger about who was going to make the catch on an incoming ball.

Luckily, the 22-year-old reacted quickly and made a backhanded grab.

It was an incredible display of defense, something that has been his calling-card since he was called up the Majors as a full-time player on May 30.

The Cubs have won two exciting games in Los Angeles to keep their postseason dreams alive, and on Wednesday, they'll have an opportunity to leave town with a sweep that could go a long way in this Wild Card race.

They are now four games back of the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets who both have difficult matchups of their own coming up.

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Brad Wakai
BRAD WAKAI

Brad Wakai graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Journalism. While an undergrad, he did work at the student radio station covering different Penn State athletic programs like football, basketball, volleyball, soccer and other sports. Brad currently is the Lead Contributor for Nittany Lions Wire of Gannett Media where he continues to cover Penn State athletics. He is also a contributor at FanSided, writing about the Philadelphia 76ers for The Sixers Sense. Brad is the host of the sports podcast I Said What I Said, discussing topics across the NFL, College Football, the NBA and other sports. You can follow him on Twitter: @bwakai

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