{"id":687579,"date":"2026-06-06T08:05:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T08:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/687579\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T08:05:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T08:05:22","slug":"2026-cubs-heroes-and-goats-pete-crow-armstrong-is-the-superhero-vs-the-as","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/687579\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Pete Crow-Armstrong is the Superhero vs. the A\u2019s!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two of my all-time favorite announcer calls are \u201cDo you believe in miracles\u2026 Yes!\u201d and \u201cI don\u2019t believe what I just saw.\u201d Iconic quotes of iconic moments made by Al Michaels and Jack Buck, two of the all-time greats. With all due respect to both of them, despite the insane improbability of a Cubs team going through what it has the last three weeks, this comeback was actually the least surprising thing in this game to me.<\/p>\n

Some thoughts I\u2019ve had on social media tonight for discussion. This felt like a month\u2019s worth of two-out runners in scoring position hits for the Cubs, all in one inning. For those not counting at home, there were three separate two-out runner(s) in scoring position hits for the Cubs in the ninth inning. There was an additional hit with two outs and a runner not in scoring position.<\/p>\n

The other thought I had on social media was to wonder if a team can hit rock bottom in a game that they ended up winning? The team had two hits through six innings, four hits through seven (and eight) and then seven hits in the ninth inning. What even is that? I noted before the series that the A\u2019s bullpen has been a bottom 10 bullpen in major league baseball this year. They had represented excellently in the first two games of the series. Your starter getting deep in all three games can make them look so much better. But then the A\u2019s bullpen immolated in the ninth inning. I will say this, for all of the struggles of the Cubs, the Cub defense would not have let all seven of those hits find grass. We take it for granted, but this Cub defense makes a ton of plays others just can\u2019t.<\/p>\n

On top of the not hitting, there was a caught stealing in the middle of the rally. I know the conventional wisdom is that you don\u2019t make the first or the third out on the bases in an inning. But I don\u2019t really know how you can get caught stealing down two in the ninth either. I think you take second if they are giving it to you, but the A\u2019s were in no way giving it to you. I love Nico, but I didn\u2019t like the strategy there. I thought sure the rally was doomed there.<\/p>\n

Then there was the missed fly ball. I love Pete Crow-Armstrong. Absolutely, the Cubs don\u2019t win this game without his bat. But boy was that a tough watch. I saw someone say it and I\u2019m not sure I\u2019ve ever seen someone miss one so bad. He had to have picked up something else off of the bat and ran to completely the wrong spot on the field. In those spots, I have trouble getting mad directly at the player. The Cubs have benefitted from so many high flys at Wrigley this year that were lost in some combination of lighting and the elements. It happens. If you ever played much outfield, or probably even infield, I suspect this has happened to you somewhere along the way. But as brutal a play as you\u2019ll ever see.<\/p>\n

Sh\u014dta Imanaga threw quite well early in this game, but after the missed fly, he seemed to unravel. If things weren\u2019t bad enough, that missed fly looks like a booming homer on his line. The three he allowed that left the park were not cheapies. You had to know that it was pretty dicey seeing Imanaga pitching on a night when the wind is blowing out pretty good. Simply not ideal. If there is any rebound in the Cubs, I have to imagine that in some order Ben Brown, Edward Cabrera and Matthew Boyd are their top three pitchers. You then just have to hope you can pick spots adequately with all of your depth pitchers. But if Imanaga, Colin Rea and Jameson Taillon are starting key games, this team is probably in trouble.<\/p>\n

For math purposes, the Cubs had 3.9 percent chance of winning heading to the bottom of the ninth. Happ\u2019s RBI double with one out had it up to 11.5 and Hoerner\u2019s single sent it to 20.9 percent. But it cratered to 4.6 percent with the caught stealing. Seiya Suzuki\u2019s single sent it to 16.7 percent. Dansby Swanson\u2019s single sent it to 63.5 percent. A giant Wheee! And the Cubs walk it off for the seventh time this season. Incredible.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never singled out a stat for a slot here, but the Cubs were 6-for-10 with runners in scoring position, left just four men in base and had three two-out RBI, all in the ninth inning.Pete Crow-Armstrong had two hits, one a homer, was hit by a pitch, stole a base and delivered the walk-off winner for his first such hit of his MLB career. Kudos to a very alert Clark who located the ball in the outfield and grabbed it for PCA\u2019s souvenir collection and almost fell over trying to scoop it up while holding the W flag.Ian Happ double, homer, three runs driven in, two runs scored. I laughed because one fairly recognizable Cub fan on twitter called the two-run homer a meaningless homer in a losing cause. I\u2019m sure he\u2019s happy to be wrong. You never know. That\u2019s why you keep playing.<\/p>\n

An additional hat tip to Trent Thornton and particularly Ryan Rolison. 12 batters between them \u2014 Rolison recorded five outs on five hitters, striking out three \u2014 and holding the line. Again, it looks like they were just holding the line, but it turned out they kept it just within reach. Though PCA\u2019s single probably scores two with two out.<\/p>\n

Game 63, June 4: Cubs 7, A\u2019s 6 (33-30)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Fangraphs<\/p>\n

Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.<\/p>\n

Superhero: Pete Crow-Armstrong (.448). 2-4, HR, HBP, 2 RBI, R, SBHero: Dansby Swanson (.397). 1-4, RBISidekick: Seiya Suzuki (.072). 1-1, RBilly Goat: Shata Imanaga (-.191). 6 IP, 6 H, BB, 6 ER, 5 KGoat: Nico Hoerner (-.152). 1-4, CSKid: Alex Bregman (-.082). 1-4, 2B, R<\/p>\n

WPA Play of the Game: Dansby Swanson\u2019s two-out, game-tying, RBI-single in the ninth inning. (.468)<\/p>\n

A\u2019s Play of the Game: Jonah Heim throwing out Nico Hoerner trying to steal second with a nice tag by Alika Williams at second. (.163)<\/p>\n

Game 62 Winner: Colin Rea nudged Ian Happ 46-42 (131 votes)<\/p>\n

Rizzo Award Standings: (Top 5\/Bottom 5)<\/p>\n

The award is named for Anthony Rizzo, who finished first in this category three of the first four years it was in existence and four times overall. He also recorded the highest season total ever at +65.5. The point scale is three points for a Superhero down to negative three points for a Billy Goat.<\/p>\n

Michael Busch +21Nico Hoerner +111Ian Happ +10.5Michael Conforto +10Ben Brown +9.5Ryan Rolison\/Phil Maton\/Jameson Taillon\/Caleb Thielbar -8Matt Shaw -10Dansby Swanson -11Seiya Suzuki -29.5<\/p>\n

Up Next: The Giants (25-38) come to town fresh off of winning two games in a row in Milwaukee to take that three game series. But they are 3-7 in their last 10. Edward Cabrera (3-2, 4.00, 54 IP) comes off of the injured list after a minimum stay there for blisters on his throwing hand. He was 0-2 with a 5.79 in May. Hopefully, this was exactly the kind of reset he needed.<\/p>\n

How about another lefty starter? The Cubs have been struggling to win games started by left-handed starters recently. Robbie Ray is 3-6 with a 4.45 ERA in 62.2 innings. The former 12th-round pick of the Nationals back in 2010 is having a tough season. He had a decent start last time out against the Rockies, allowing just one run on five hits and two walks in four innings. He hasn\u2019t completed five innings since May 8.<\/p>\n

The Giants bullpen is 28th in strikeouts, 25th in WHIP, but 16th in ERA. They only have a collective seven losses, tied for second best in baseball. So all of the losing is actually happening while the starter is still in there. Even with the series win in Milwaukee, the Giants are just 13-22 on the road.<\/p>\n

I know it is a big ask, but the Cubs need to sweep this team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two of my all-time favorite announcer calls are \u201cDo you believe in miracles\u2026 Yes!\u201d and \u201cI don\u2019t believe…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":687580,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[298679,363,99],"class_list":["post-687579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-chicago-cubs-scores","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=687579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/687580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=687579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=687579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=687579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}