Pete Crow-Armstrong hits 33rd homer in blowout

Javier never really had it in this one. He put himself in trouble instantly by walking the first two batters of the game, but narrowly escaped that jam with two pop-ups. Then the Royals put runners on the corners with one out in the second and again he managed to find a way out of that without a run on the board. Finally the Royals got some runs across in the fourth when John Rave socked a two-run home run. Despite another threat in the sixth, those would be the only two runs on Javier’s final ledger. Just a bit less crisp than he had been lately, Javier struggled to put hitters away and that led to both too many base runners and too much traffic for him to navigate through six innings. He’s tentatively lined up for a two-start week to close the season against both the Mariners and Athletics on the road. Just be advised upcoming schedules are merely a guess this time of year.

There’s really no stopping this guy. In addition to the two homers, Crow-Armstrong hit his eighth triple too. There isn’t a shadow of a doubt that he’s going to win his first MVP award and now with 44 home runs, he has a shot to chase down Kyle Schwarber for the league-high in that department. Apart from the many, many steps forward he’s taken as a power hitter. It’s been amazing to watch Crow-Armstrong’s eye develop this season. The walk he drew in this game was his 78th. He drew 50 combined over the last two full seasons. There’s no better spectacle in the game right now and it’s going to be a treat to watch this version of Crow-Armstrong in the playoffs.

Crow-Armstrong was a one-man wrecking crew in the win over the Braves Monday. He had four of the Cubs’ 10 hits, including two of the teams’ four extra-base hits, and knocked in four of the Cubs’ seven runs. Crow-Armstrong’s home run was his 42nd and his steal was his 37th. With a 40/40 season in his sights, expect him to continue to be aggressive on the bases.

He was also hit by a pitch. The homer came in the ninth and was the first allowed by Trevor Megill in 55 innings this season. Unfortunately, it was a solo shot instead of a game-tying two-run homer because Luis Lara had just robbed Pedro Ramírez of a double. Crow-Armstrong now has 41 homers and 35 steals. He clearly wants the 40 steals and probably will be very aggressive until he gets there.

Crow-Armstrong’s home run was his 40th of the season. He hit a solo shot off Tyler Phillips in the fifth inning. Crow-Armstrong also had a sacrifice fly in the third inning. He’s hitting .280 with a .946 OPS and 96 RBI, which along with his defensive excellence and Shohei Ohtani’s injuries have Crow-Armstrong as the favorite for the National League MVP as we head down the stretch.

The 24-year-old budding superstar tagged Brewers’ right-hander Logan Henderson for a 413-foot (104.3-mph EV) two-run shot in the third inning that gave the Cubs an early 2-0 advantage that they would never relinquish. That would be his only hit in four at-bats on the night. He has been absolutely sizzling at the plate over the past few weeks and has surged past Shohei Ohtani as the favorite to take home National League MVP honors — slashing .280/.375/.571 with 39 homers, 93 RBI and 32 stolen bases in what has been a spectacular all-around campaign.

Crow-Armstrong’s first homer shouldn’t have happened; Chase Burns’ 2-2 pitch caught the corner, but the ump called it a ball and the Reds declined to challenge it. PCA took the next one 417 feet to right for his 37th homer of the year. No. 38, on an Emilio Pagán fastball right down main street, came with two outs and the Cubs down by three, so it didn’t lead to much. However, Crow-Armstrong is now all alone in second place for the MLB lead in homers, two behind Kyle Schwarber.

It’s the first three-homer game in the superstar outfielder’s young career. He started the home half of the first inning with a bang, crushing an 0-1 fastball from Andrew Abbott for a 435-foot (105.8-mph EV) solo shot. He victimized Abbott again in the second inning, that time for a 375-foot (103.4-mph) two-run blast to right. He then singled and scored in the fourth inning before tagging Tony Santillan for a monstrous 444-foot (105.3-mph EV) three-run bomb in the seventh inning. He’s not a lock to take home NL MVP honors over Shohei Ohtani, but his chances of doing so continue to improve with each passing day. The dynamic 24-year-old is slashing a robust .282/.377/.567 with 36 homers, 89 RBI, 97 runs scored and 32 stolen bases while playing exceptional defense in center field.

A day after hitting a leadoff and walk-off home run against the White Sox, he started Tuesday’s contest with another leadoff blast off Bryan Hudson for his 31st homer of the season. With a runner on and one out and the game tied in the bottom of the ninth, the White Sox weren’t going to give him a chance to do it again as they issued an intentional walk. The 24-year-old outfielder is having an incredible campaign, slashing .282/.381/.555 with the 31 homers, 90 runs scored, 79 RBI, and 31 steals across 566 plate appearances.

Crow-Armstrong took Luis Castillo deep to start the bottom of the first and later hit Hagen Smith’s fourth pitch of the night out to right to end the game in the 10th. The homers were PCA’s 29th and 30th, giving him a second straight 30/30 campaign. He also collected his 31st steal for good measure. He’s the 19th player to record multiple 30/30 seasons, and according to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, he’s the seventh player with leadoff and walkoff homers in the same game. The last was Chris Young in 2010.