PHOENIX, AZ - October 11: Los Angeles Dodgers Lance Lynn reacts to being taken out of the game during game three of the National League Division Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on Monday, Oct. 11, 2023, in Phoenix, AZ. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
LOS ANGELES – From center field, Cubs rookie Pete Crow-Armstrong willed reliever Porter Hodge to throw another fastball.
With the Cubs leading 6-3 in the ninth inning, Hodge had pitched to a full count against the Dodgers’ Max Muncy – even after needing an injury delay midway through the at-bat as his heart rate elevated beyond what felt normal. But manager Craig Counsell said after that game that Hodge told him he’d felt something similar before and it would pass. He stayed in the game.
“His heater’s so good, and 3-2 like that, after what went down, I was just hoping he’d go compete,” Crow-Armstrong said. “Porter always finds a way to do that. And I was just ready for the contact.”
Crow-Armstrong got his wish. Hodge threw a fastball up in the zone, and Muncy lifted it just beyond the right-center field fence. Crow-Armstrong was there and timed his leap perfectly to rob Muncy of a two-run homer and end the game.
“That one’s going to be played a lot, for sure,” Counsell said. “And deserves to be. He had a heck of a game on defense.”
Defense was the deciding factor Tuesday, as clinched a series win in Los Angeles. They exploited the Dodgers’ defensive mistakes to launch an eighth-inning comeback, and they made crisp plays behind a strong all-around pitching performance. But no one had more eye-popping moments than Crow-Armstrong, who put together the most impressive defensive game of his young career.
“He’s a wild card in that it’s a whole new factor just to play around,” second baseman Nico Hoerner said. “… It’s just such a unique level of athlete and ability to impact the game that I think it’s just going to get better and better the more that we all play together, and the more that he learns his best version of himself at this level. It’s just been so fun to watch all year.”
For Crow-Armstrong, a Los Angeles native, the setting Tuesday only added to the fun.
“I love it,” he said. “I don’t think I quite grew up hoping for any of this stuff. I didn’t grow up a Dodgers fan, but I came to a lot of games here and spent a lot of time here. Matt Kemp was the center fielder growing up for me. And it just feels cool roaming around where I watched from afar a lot.”
The home run robbery rightfully stole the show. But Crow-Armstrong’s sliding catch to end the seventh inning highlighted his range to an extreme.
With two outs and a runner on first, the Dodgers’ Kiké Hernández hit an opposite-field fly ball into what looked like no man’s land. Yet there was Crow-Armstrong, making a back-handed grab as he slid across the warning track.
