Cubs 13, White Sox 3: Pete Crow-Armstrong’s four-hit day leads the way

Cade Horton did not have himself a very good first inning. He threw nearly 30 pitches and served up a two-run homer to Miguel Vargas.

Did that matter? The wind was blowing out strongly (21 miles per hour) on a very warm Friday afternoon, and Pete Crow-Armstrong got that home run back and three other hits. PCA led the way with six RBI as the Cubs demolished the White Sox 13-3.

Nico Hoerner did finally end that top of the first with this nifty catch [VIDEO].

The Cubs didn’t score in the bottom of the inning, and got out of the top of the second inning when obstruction was called on the White Sox and that gave the Cubs an inning-ending double play.

That, possibly, was a makeup call for this odd interference error given to Nico Hoerner in the first [VIDEO].

Anyway, the Cubs turned the bats on in the bottom of the second. Michael Busch led off with a single and went to third on a double by Carson Kelly. After Dansby Swanson struck out, Moises Ballesteros came to the plate [VIDEO].

That was the first MLB RBI for Ballesteros. And there’s another story about that RBI [VIDEO].

Guaranteed that Moises won’t forget that one! Nico was next [VIDEO].

An error was given to Sox catcher Matt Thaiss on that play. Jon Berti followed by striking out, and then PCA, who had flied to left in the first, came to bat [VIDEO].

That gave the Cubs a 5-2 lead, but they were not done in the second. Kyle Tucker tripled into right and Seiya Suzuki, the ninth batter in the inning, doubled him in [VIDEO].

The Cubs had a single, double, triple and home run in their six-run second, and here’s more on that from BCB’s JohnW53:

This was the eighth of the Cubs’ 45 games, nearly one in five, in which they have hit for a team cycle. The Mets started the day with five games; the Dodgers, four; and nobody else had more than three.

Horton got touched for another homer by Vargas in the third, but after that settled down and retired seven of the last eight White Sox batters to face him. Overall, despite the homers, it was a decent outing, with no walks and a pair of strikeouts on 79 pitches (52 strikes).

Here’s more on Horton’s day [VIDEO].

Daniel Palencia threw a scoreless sixth and the Cubs extended the lead in the bottom of the inning. Nico led off with a single and stole second, advancing to third on a throwing error.

PCA blooped this RBI hit into right [VIDEO].

You can see the effects of the wind — that ball was nearly in the seats, instead it dropped for a hit.

Tucker followed with another bloop single, sending PCA to third, where Suzuki drove him in with this sac fly [VIDEO].

Here’s another example of the effects of the wind (and sun) on this day. Tucker caught this ball for the last out of the top of the seventh [VIDEO].

That was the end of a scoreless inning by Caleb Thielbar. The Cubs put two more on the board in the bottom of the inning. With one out, Ballesteros walked and went to third on a double by Nico.

One out later, PCA’s fourth hit of the day scored both runners [VIDEO].

More on PCA’s day from BCB’s JohnW53:

This is PCA’s second career game with four hits. He had four singles in a 10-4 win at Pittsburgh on Aug. 28 of last year. This is his 181st career game.

His six RBI are a career high by two. He had four in the 7-6 win over the Dodgers at home on April 23.

He is only the fourth Cub with at least six RBI in the past five seasons. Patrick Wisdom had six on June 30, 2022, and Ian Happ did the same on July 4, 2024. Christian Bethancourt knocked in seven in the same game at Pittsburgh on Aug. 28 of last year in which PCA had four hits.

Ryan Pressly, trying to work his way back into the Bullpen Circle of Trust, threw a scoreless eighth.

Then the Cubs put together yet another nice rally in the bottom of the inning. Suzuki led off with a double, his second of th game. Busch was hit by a pitch and yet another Cubs bloop, by Kelly, fell among Sox fielders to load the bases.

Swanson scored Suzuki with this sac fly [VIDEO].

Busch took third, where he scored on Ballesteros’ first MLB hit [VIDEO].

Yes, they did save the baseball for Moises. Kelly took third on that hit, and he scored on this force play [VIDEO].

Another reliever trying to make his way back to the Bullpen Circle of Trust, Julian Merryweather, threw the ninth. I did note that his velocity ticked up a bit from his last outing. This time he was hitting 97 instead of 95. He allowed a leadoff single and after a strikeout ended the game with this double-play ball [VIDEO].

And you know what’s coming next...

The Cubs got good pitching — especially from the pen, four shutout innings with four hits allowed — and timely hitting up and down the lineup. They were 6-for-18 with RISP and every starter on the team except Jon Berti had at least one hit. Five Cubs, PCA, Busch, Kelly, Ballesteros and Hoerner, scored at least twice.

One final PCA note on his home run, his 12th of the year:

The Cubs will go for the series win Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field. Matthew Boyd will start for the Cubs and Sean Burke goes for the White Sox. Game time is again 1:20 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network (and Chicago Sports Network with the Sox announcers).