{"id":833798,"date":"2026-05-31T04:24:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T04:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/833798\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T04:24:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T04:24:15","slug":"chicago-cubs-pete-crow-armstrong-has-a-night-to-remember","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/833798\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Cubs: Pete Crow-Armstrong has a night to remember"},"content":{"rendered":"

ST. LOUIS \u2014 Pete Crow-Armstrong has become a pin cushion for opposing fan bases, as we saw two weeks ago on the South Side and over and over again this weekend in Busch Stadium.<\/p>\n

The mere mention of his name over the PA system elicits boos, and the taunting from fans in the bleachers has become a common occurrence.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, he answered by pricking the taunting fans back, going 4-for-5 with a monster home run, 2 RBI and a game-ending, sliding catch in the Chicago Cubs\u2019 6-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.<\/p>\n

The Cubs evened the series at a game apiece heading into the \u201cSunday Night Baseball\u201d<\/a> finale, where they hope to end a wild month on an up note<\/a> and win their first series since a four-game sweep of Cincinnati on May 4-7.<\/p>\n

Crow-Armstrong\u2019s hitting and stellar defense, combined with Ben Brown\u2019s seven strong innings, made the Cubs clubhouse a festive place afterward.<\/p>\n

\u201cI need more of that in my day-to-day,\u201d Crow-Armstrong said. \u201cRemembering that this is fun, even when you go through tough stretches and not taking myself too seriously. It\u2019s easy to have fun when Ben shoves for seven.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PetePete Crow-Armstrong of the Chicago Cubs crosses home plate after hitting a solo home run against the St. Louis Cardinals in the eighth inning at Busch Stadium on May 30, 2026, in St Louis. (Joe Puetz\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The Cubs led 3-1 after Nico Hoerner and Michael Busch drove in runs in the seventh. When Crow-Armstrong stepped in with one out in the eighth, Cardinals fans in the new \u201cTarps Off\u201d section in right field chanted \u201coverrated,\u201d continuing their weekend of mocking the Cubs center fielder. He then proceeded to launch a 96 mph fastball from Gordon Graceffo 444 feet to right<\/a>, sending it smack-dab into the middle of the mocking fans.<\/p>\n

Crow-Armstrong calmly flipped his bat, watched for a moment and then started his trip around the bases. He pointed toward the \u201cTarps Off\u201d zone as he rounded first base, twirling his hand over his head in the same fashion they twirled their shirts.<\/p>\n

Afterward, he claimed he wasn\u2019t really reacting to the fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was hearing them all yesterday, and all today, so \u2026\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

At 114.6 mph, it was the hardest-hit ball of his young career and his longest home run this season.<\/p>\n

Crow-Armstrong admitted he does feed off the Cubs-Cardinals series and enjoyed the howls of the \u201cTarps Off\u201d participants, even if they were aimed at him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey got like hundreds of shirtless guys out in right field,\u201d he said. \u201cInteresting theme for the year, but they\u2019re rowdy and they\u2019re showing up. They\u2019re buying into something<\/a>, so I can appreciate it. They don\u2019t really rest for nine innings, and I guess that\u2019s what they\u2019re there to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love playing against the Cardinals, too. In-division rivals are always fun, and it\u2019s nice that they\u2019ve got a really good squad this year and are playing good baseball. It\u2019s absolutely easy to feed off.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Column: Chicago Cubs\u2019 Pete Crow-Armstrong learns you can\u2019t win when responding to idiot fans<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It was an epic moment for the beleaguered young outfielder<\/a> who has established himself as a villain on a team that Cardinals fans love to hate, after doing likewise on a team that White Sox fans love to hate. He\u2019s had a tough month of May, and after an All-Star season in 2025 and a lucrative contract last spring, he\u2019s struggled to return to form.<\/p>\n

With one swing, he seemed to rid himself of all his frustrations.<\/p>\n

Was hitting a baseball into a group of fans chanting that you are overrated a case of instant karma?<\/p>\n

\u201cJust fans being fans,\u201d Ian Happ said. \u201cIt\u2019s good energy in the ballpark. It\u2019s a cool thing that there are that many young people that want to come out and watch baseball and support it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crow-Armstrong came up again in the ninth with the bases loaded and singled to center, leading to chants of \u201cP-C-A\u201d from the Cubs fans in the crowd of 40,147. He later ended his night with a running, sliding catch<\/a> to rob Jordan Walker and end the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust erring on keeping the ball in front of me,\u201d he said. \u201cI have all the confidence in the world going to left-center because I know Happer is going to be there to back me up if I don\u2019t make a play.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the catch, Crow-Armstrong sat and waved his glove to the crowd.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust to the Cubs fans out there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"ChicagoChicago Cubs pitcher Ben Brown delivers a pitch during the first inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Saturday, May 30, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo\/Scott Kane)<\/p>\n

How much can a game like that get Crow-Armstrong back on track?<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, he had a great game, he had a wonderful game,\u201d manager Craig Counsell said, downplaying its overall significance. \u201cSwung the bat really, really well. Do it tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seiya Suzuki threw a runner out at third in the ninth, and Crow-Armstrong shot an imaginary arrow at him, which Suzuki joked \u201cembarrassed\u201d him. Crow-Armstrong\u2019s sliding catch was the bookend of a night where he could do no wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fun to watch,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cThe ball goes up and you\u2019re like, \u201cNo \u2026 maybe \u2026 then he makes the catch and it\u2019s pretty awesome. He\u2019s in a place where nobody is getting to that stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown allowed one run on three hits over seven innings, striking out six and reducing his ERA as a starter to 1.73 over five starts. His confidence is soaring as he keeps dealing in his return to the rotation.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting seven innings at this stage of where he\u2019s at is really impressive,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cThe last at-bat to (Nolan) Gorman was symbolic of how Ben has changed, (throwing) four changeups (to strike him out). That\u2019s a tip of the cap of how he has improved.\u201d<\/p>\n

After all the ups and downs of the last month, the Cubs need games like Saturday to keep things loose and alive. Crow-Armstrong is discovering that he\u2019s going to be in the spotlight for good things and bad, so he might as well focus on the things that make life grand.<\/p>\n

\u201cI try not to read into my work too much,\u201d Crow-Armstrong said. \u201cBut yesterday I absolutely did, and today I just wanted to be a kid and go out and play baseball with my friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mission accomplished.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. LOUIS \u2014 Pete Crow-Armstrong has become a pin cushion for opposing fan bases, as we saw two…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":833799,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5124],"tags":[5438,960,1271,1816,5386,1818,1822,1277,8753,3692,341909],"class_list":["post-833798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago","tag-ben-brown","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-craig-counsell","tag-il","tag-illinois","tag-mlb-baseball","tag-pete-crow-armstrong","tag-seiya-suzuki","tag-st-louis-cardinals","tag-tarps-off"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116667290151833858","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=833798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833798\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/833799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=833798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=833798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=833798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}