Although riding quite the hot streak at the plate, Pete Crow-Armstrong was quick to pour cold water on the Chicago Cubs’ recent run of success.
After all, back-to-back series wins — against the two worst teams in the National League, mind you — came right after Chicago posted a 0-9-1 record in their previous 10 series.
Crow-Armstrong and the Cubs will look to continue a successful homestand on Friday afternoon when they open a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays.
“I’m not gonna buy into (the team turning the corner) yet, I want to keep stacking (wins),” Crow-Armstrong told Marquee Sports Network. “I think what I’m happiest about is coming out after a loss and getting a W the next day. I think that’s what was really consistent about this team last year and really strong and important.”
Crow-Armstrong homered in his third consecutive contest on Wednesday, helping Chicago to an 8-6 victory over the Colorado Rockies in the decisive game of their series. He has hit safely in eight straight games and 20 of his last 21 overall to boost his batting average from .223 to a team-leading .276.
Dansby Swanson also homered on Wednesday for the Cubs, who recorded their first home series win since beginning May with back-to-back sweeps of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Cincinnati Reds.
“If you just focus on winning every series from here on out, I think we’ll be pretty pleased with where we end up. We just gotta keep on going,” Swanson said after the win.
Toronto right-hander Kevin Gausman (4-4, 3.41 ERA) will look to keep Crow-Armstrong and company in check when he makes the start on Friday afternoon.
Gausman saw his winless stretch extend to four games on Saturday despite allowing one solo homer as the lone hit allowed over seven innings in a no-decision against the New York Yankees.
“My split’s been cutting,” Gausman said. “I’ve been throwing a lot of splits that I’ve been getting away with and luckily I haven’t gotten beat by many. I expect that pitch to be my bread and butter. So I needed to figure it out and (Saturday) was definitely a step in the right direction.”
Gausman is 3-4 with a 5.45 ERA in eight career appearances (seven starts) against the Cubs.
The Blue Jays polished off a three-game series sweep of the Boston Red Sox with a 4-3 victory on Thursday afternoon.
Brandon Valenzuela hit a go-ahead RBI double with two outs in the ninth inning to give Toronto its first sweep since winning all three contests versus the Athletics in the opening series of the season.
“It’s been no secret that our (pitching) staff has been carrying us for a little bit. It was about time our bats wake up and put everything together,” Valenzuela told Sportsnet.
The Cubs did not announce their starter for the series opener, however right-hander Ben Brown (3-2, 1.74) is a likely candidate.
Brown, 26, allowed one run in five innings of a 6-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants last Saturday. He has yielded just three runs on 15 hits in his last four games, going 2-0 during that stretch.
Brown yielded one run on four hits in four innings of a no-decision in his lone appearance against the Blue Jays in August of last season.
–Field Level Media
