04/25/24 04:48:00
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04/25 16:46 CDT Crow-Armstrong homers for his first big league hit as the Cubs
beat the Astros 3-1
Crow-Armstrong homers for his first big league hit as the Cubs beat the Astros
3-1
CHICAGO (AP) --- Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a tiebreaking two-run homer for his
first major league hit, and the Chicago Cubs swept the Houston Astros with a
3-1 victory on Thursday.
Nico Hoerner had three hits and Mike Tauchman went 1 for 1 with three walks as
Chicago won for the fourth time in five games. Hayden Wesneski (2-0) pitched 2
1/3 perfect innings for the win in relief of Javier Assad.
Houston has lost a season-high five straight and eight of nine overall. At
7-19, it is off to its worst 26-game start since it was 6-20 in 1969.
First-year manager Joe Espada was ejected by plate umpire Jansen Visconti in
the top of ninth.
Crow-Armstrong was recalled from Triple-A Iowa when Cody Bellinger was placed
on the 10-day injured list on Wednesday with two fractured ribs. The
22-year-old outfielder, who is considered one of the team's top prospects, made
his big league debut last year and went 0 for 14 while appearing in 13 games.
He picked a perfect time for his first major league hit.
Houston had a 1-0 lead before Dansby Swanson scampered home on a fielder's
choice grounder for Miguel Amaya in the sixth.
Espada then replaced Rafael Montero (0-1) with Bryan Abreu, who threw a wild
pitch with Crow-Armstrong trying to sacrifice Amaya to second. Crow-Armstrong
then drove his next pitch deep to right, delighting the crowd of 29,876 at
Wrigley Field.
Hctor Neris worked the ninth for his third save in four chances. He walked
Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker before retiring three straight batters.
Houston finished with four hits and went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring
position. It scored a total of six runs in the three-game series.
Astros right-hander Justin Verlander pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings in his
second start since he missed the beginning of the season because of shoulder
inflammation. The three-time Cy Young Award winner allowed three hits, struck
out seven and walked four.
Alex Bregman singled twice against Assad to reach 1,000 career hits. the latter
of which dropped for his 1,000th career hit.
Assad permitted one run in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out five and walked one.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Astros: The club plans to activate Framber Valdez (elbow) from the 15-day
injured list and start him Sunday in the second of a two-game series against
Colorado in Mexico City.
UP NEXT
Astros: Ronel Blanco (2-0, 1.33 ERA) faces fellow RHP Cal Quantrill (0-2, 4.33
ERA) in Mexico City on Saturday.
Cubs: LHP Shota Imanaga (3-0, 0.84 ERA) starts Friday night in the opener of a
three-game series at Boston. RHP Kutter Crawford (1-0, 0.66 ERA) takes the
mound for the Red Sox.
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More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/MLB
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