Pete Crow-Armstrong’s rough week kept rolling Wednesday night at Wrigley Field, when a misplayed line drive helped the Milwaukee Brewers race to an early 3-0 lead over the Cubs in the middle game of their three-game set.
In the top of the second inning, with Sal Frelick and Joey Ortiz already on base, David Hamilton drove a line to center field against Cubs starter Edward Cabrera. Crow-Armstrong got to the ball but committed an error, and Hamilton slid head first into home to score. Hamilton was credited with a single on the play, even though he is still looking for his first official home run of 2026.
The play landed hard because Crow-Armstrong had entered Wednesday already searching for a reset. Before the game, a video of a vulgar exchange with a Chicago White Sox fan had gone viral, and in the first two games of the Cubs’ series against Milwaukee he managed just one hit in eight at-bats with four strikeouts. For a player expected to steady the middle of the field and help carry the offense, the last two days had brought little relief.
The Brewers’ start also mattered in the standings. They came into May 20 atop the NL Central, a half game ahead of the Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals, and they had already won the first two games of the series between the 2025 playoff opponents. That gave Wednesday night a sharper edge, with every inning adding weight to a race that is still tight and still feels personal.
The tension for Chicago is that the line between a brief slump and a damaging stretch is getting thinner. Crow-Armstrong has been part of the story for reasons he would rather avoid, and Milwaukee has taken advantage of the opening. If the Cubs are going to stop the bleed in the divisional race, they need their center fielder to start making the kind of plays that turn a game instead of one that turns on him.
