Cubs Torch Skenes, Crow-Armstrong Runs Wild in 11-0 Rout

Pete Crow-Armstrong went 4-for-5 with a home run, 3 RBI, and 3 runs scored as the Cubs dismantled Pittsburgh 11-0 on July 25. Paul Skenes — one of the game's most electric arms — lasted just 5.1 innings and surrendered 5 earned runs, which looks like the story of the afternoon.

The game turned in the fifth inning, and it turned fast. Pittsburgh held a 51% win probability before Crow-Armstrong doubled to center, scoring Swanson and moving Amaya to third — a single swing that pushed Pittsburgh's win probability down to 32%, a 19-point collapse in one at-bat. Two pitches later, Suzuki singled to right, scoring both Amaya and Crow-Armstrong, and just like that Chicago led 3-0 with Skenes still on the mound and the crowd running out of reasons for optimism.

The sixth inning is where Pittsburgh's night officially fell apart. Swanson doubled to left, scoring Hoerner and pushing Ramirez to third. Then Amaya singled to left, scoring both Ramirez and Swanson. Then Busch singled to right, scoring Amaya and Crow-Armstrong. Three consecutive hits, five runs, and a scoreboard that read 8-0 before Pittsburgh could catch its breath. Skenes finished at 5.1 innings — 6 hits, 5 earned runs, 2 walks, and 11 strikeouts. The strikeout total is impressive on paper, but 11 punchouts and a five-spot allowed is the kind of line that appears to capture exactly how uneven his command was when it mattered most.

Chicago didn't let up. Crow-Armstrong led off the seventh with a 390-foot home run to right, scoring Ramirez and pushing the lead to 10-0. Ramirez then doubled to center in the eighth, scoring Triantos for the final margin of 11. On the other side, Shota Imanaga was quietly dominant — 6.0 innings, 4 hits, 0 earned runs, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts — and Javier Assad closed it out with 3.0 innings of one-hit, scoreless ball. Chicago's pitching staff combined to allow just 5 hits and zero runs across nine innings. The offense and the pitching were both suffocating, and the final score reflects it without any embellishment needed.