Forty-four, and one behind Schwarber
Pete Crow-Armstrong swung twice overnight at Wrigley Field and both balls left the yard. The Chicago centre fielder took the Atlanta Braves deep in the third and again in the seventh, and the Cubs came away 8-4 winners.
The first was a 376-foot solo shot, number 43 of his season. The second came off Owen Murphy to open the bottom of the seventh, number 44, and left him one behind the major league lead of 45 held by Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber.
His fifth inning was worth as much as either swing. Carson Kelly singled, Crow-Armstrong tripled him in for 4-0, then scored himself when Alex Bregman lined a ball past Austin Riley at third and Mauricio Dubon misplayed it in right. Bregman ended up on third.
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Imanaga gave Chicago six innings of calm
Shota Imanaga allowed one run on four hits, struck out eight and walked nobody. After Riley beat out an infield single in the second, the left-hander retired 11 Atlanta batters in a row. The win, his 11th against 10 defeats, was his third in a row for the first time this season.
Bregman finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs and his 26th home run of the year, the one that made it 3-0 in the fourth. Michael Busch walked and scored in the first. Tyrone Taylor doubled and came home on Michael Conforto’s single in the eighth.
J.R. Ritchie, pitching in the majors for the first time since 2 August, lasted 4 2/3 innings and gave up six runs on seven hits. The rookie struck out five, walked two and took the loss, his third against one win.
What Wednesday changes in the wild card race
Chicago moved to 85-68 and stayed half a game clear of the Phillies for the National League’s top wild card spot. Nine games remain and nothing behind them has loosened.
Atlanta, 89-64, have now lost three of their last four. Ronald Acuna Jr. doubled to start the sixth and scored on Matt Olson’s groundout. Dubon tripled in the seventh and came home on Riley’s groundout, then doubled in another run in the ninth before Sean Murphy’s RBI groundout made it 8-4. Ryan Zeferjahn retired Mike Yastrzemski to finish it.
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