Pete Crow-Armstrong enters his first trip to Yankee Stadium as a member of the 25-25 club and is hoping to inch closer to 30 homers and 30 steals.
After hitting a pair of homers Thursday, Crow-Armstrong and the Chicago Cubs visit the New York Yankees for the opener of a three-game series on Friday.
Crow-Armstrong homered in the third and seventh innings as part of his 10th game with at least three hits. Crow-Armstrong was 2-for-17 in his previous four games following a 4-for-4 showing last Friday and his big day helped the Cubs avoid a sweep with an 8-1 win.
Crow-Armstrong has five multi-homer games this season, the first Cub to do so since Derrek Lee had eight in 2005. He is the first player in team history with at least five multi-homer games in a season at age 23 or younger.
“Pete has so many different skill-sets and tools in his box that he can continuously tap into,” Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson said. “It’s really, really fun to watch.”
Crow-Armstrong has three games to break Kris Bryant’s 2015 team record of 26 homers in his age-23 season or younger.
Crow-Armstrong also reached 25 homers and 25 steals in 92 games, the third fastest in major league history behind Eric Davis (69 games, 1989), Alfonso Soriano (91 games, 2002) and Bobby Bonds (91 games, 1973).
“I’ve only been humbled by the names that I’m mentioned with,” Crow-Armstrong said.
The Yankees are facing Crow-Armstrong and the NL Central leaders on a four-game winning streak after pulling off an unlikely comeback Thursday night against the Seattle Mariners. The Yankees were hitless until Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled off Bryan Woo to start the eighth and then earned a 6-5 victory on a sacrifice fly by Aaron Judge in the 10th.
Austin Wells drove in three runs, getting a sacrifice fly and a two-run tying single in the ninth. Giancarlo Stanton belted a pinch-hit two-run homer in the eighth and Cody Bellinger tied a career high by extending his hitting streak to 15 with a single in the ninth.
The Yankees became the first team to win after being no-hit into the eighth with a five-run deficit since the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Montreal Expos on June 24, 1977.
“It was a lot of fun,” Wells said. “It was probably one of the better wins we’ve had.”
Carlos Rodon (9-6, 3.30 ERA) will make his fourth try at reaching double-digit wins for the fourth time in his career. Rodon is 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA in his past three starts and 1-3 with a 5.34 ERA in his past six starts after winning his previous seven decisions.
Rodon endured his worst outing of this season Saturday when he was tagged for seven runs (six earned) on five hits in five innings of a 12-6 loss to the New York Mets. Rodon allowed a grand slam to Brandon Nimmo in the first inning and allowed two homers for the fifth time this season.
The left-hander is 2-4 with a 3.44 ERA in eight career appearances (seven starts) against the Cubs.
Chris Flexen (5-0, 0.83) is slated to start for the Cubs. Flexen has made 17 relief appearances and pitched at least two innings in nine of those, including Saturday when he allowed one run on four hits in 3 2/3 innings during an 8-6 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.
Flexen is 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA in four career appearances (two starts) against the Yankees. He last faced them on May 19, 2024, in New York for the Chicago White Sox, when he was tagged for seven runs on eight hits in four innings.
–Field Level Media
