Faithful, Too: “Game 73W - MVPete”

Big homestand for the Cubs began Tuesday night. No better player to hit the mound for the hometown Cubbies than Ben Brown. Strike that (no pun intended). No worse pitcher to hit the mound than Ben Brown. Ignore the box score. Sure, he only gave up two runs in five innings and got the win. Look beyond that. He gave up six hits, walked two batters, and even hit a guy for good measure. Allowed nearly two batters to reach base per each of his innings pitched. Gave up a two-run homer to smallball-hitter Isaac Collins, only his third of the year. I’ve seen enough.

Whew. Negativity out of the way.

After Seiya crushed a three-run homer to give the Cubs the lead in the bottom of the 5th that bailed out Ben Brown, the team settled down for a bit. Cabrera had a rough 6th to allow the Brewers to cut the lead to one, but the final three guys to pitch for the Cubs struck out four and allowed only one walk and one hit (thank you Brad, Caleb, and Daniel) to get the team a 5-3 victory. Par for the course with the suddenly unhittable Cubs relief staff. But how did they get there? And how did they get that extra run? You won’t believe it, but it was Pete Crow-Armstrong. That’s who.

With one out in the top of the 8th, The Brewers’ Brice Turang hit a drive to left field that Happ couldn’t get to. No normal human could have reached it. No normal Major League Baseball player could have reached it. PCA is abnormal. His diving grab saved at least a double, which would have put the tying run on base with only one out. Instead there were now two outs and nobody on. Thielbar struck out the third batter he faced and the fans were chanting PCA’s name going into the bottom of the 8th.

And guess who came to bat to lead-off the bottom of the 8th? You won’t believe it, but it was Pete Crow-Armstrong. That’s who. With the crowd still chanting his name and despite a left-hander on the mound, on the very first pitch he saw PCA hit one of the best no-doubters I’ve ever seen at Wrigley. 452 fantastic feet from home plate to final destination (and just as violent as any film in that franchise), and off the top half of the screen for good measure. Wrigley erupted. On my couch in my apartment, I raised my hands to the air in silent confusion and elation. Nico mirrored my move in the Cubs home dugout on the third base side. What else can you say?

How about Wrigley being alive in a way it hasn’t been in nearly a decade? This is a good enough sample size to say that PCA could be one of them: the guys people talk about decades from now, and not just the Cubs faithful. He’s proven as adept at the plate as he has in his outfield play (runaway Gold Glover). He’s stealing bases like it’s 1983. He’s flashy. He’s got style. He is the prince that wasn’t even promised. He could be the king.

Long way to go, but the Cubs find themselves 6.5 games ahead of the Brewers now in the NL Central standings and tied for the best record in the NL. As always: Go, Cubs, go!