Crow-Armstrong Walks Off With Two Homers, Cubs Survive 7-5
Pete Crow-Armstrong went 4-for-5 with two home runs, three RBI, and the walk-off blast that ended it — the story of Tuesday night belonged entirely to him. The Cubs needed every bit of it, blowing a two-run lead, surrendering the go-ahead run in the eighth, and then rallying twice in the final two innings to beat the White Sox 7-5.
Chicago came out swinging from the jump. Crow-Armstrong opened the scoring with a 376-foot shot to right in the first, and Seiya Suzuki followed two batters later with a 440-foot missile to center — Cubs up 2-0 before the White Sox had recorded three outs. Luis Castillo was getting hit hard, and it looked like a comfortable night ahead. Then the fourth inning happened. Randal Grichuk unloaded a 404-foot three-run homer to center, scoring Murakami and Vargas, and just like that the Sox led 3-2. Shota Imanaga had been dominant — 10 strikeouts across six innings on just two hits — but the Cubs' offense had to claw back without him.
The fifth inning gave them a lifeline, though not in the way anyone drew it up. Nico Hoerner reached on an infield single to third, and third baseman Vargas's throwing error allowed Suzuki to score and Happ to score as well — two runs on a ground ball, Cubs back in front 4-3. Vargas had delivered the go-ahead homer for his team an inning earlier and then handed the lead right back. The game looked like it was settling in Chicago's favor, until Andrew Benintendi changed that in the eighth with a two-run shot to right center — 378 feet, Murakami scoring ahead of him — and the Sox were back on top 5-4.
That's when the Cubs' ninth inning became the turning point the win-probability numbers will remember. Hoerner singled to center, scoring Taylor and moving Happ to third, and the Cubs' win probability swung from 34% to 83% on that single swing of the bat — a 49-point shift on what looked like a routine base hit. Tied at 5, the game pushed to extras, and Crow-Armstrong finished what he started. His second homer of the night — 391 feet to right in the tenth, Kelly scoring ahead of him — made it 7-5 and ended it. Hoerner finished 4-for-5 with two RBI. Alex Bregman went 3-for-4. This looks like a night where the Cubs simply had too many weapons, and Crow-Armstrong was the sharpest one in the bag.