AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh

The Rundown: MVPete Powers Cubs Past White Sox, Ohtani Keeping Pace, Things Get Ugly in Wrigley Bleachers

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterAugust 18, 2026

“Now the race is on and here comes Pride up the backstretch.” – The Race is On by The Grateful Dead

Pete Crow-Armstrong came into last night’s game against the White Sox hitting .128 with a .227 on-base percentage in his last nine games, including a 1-for-20 stretch with seven strikeouts. He broke out in a big way. The dynamic center fielder hit the first and last pitches of yesterday’s game into the right field stands to give the Cubs a dramatic 7-5 walk-off win over their South Side rivals. PCA is Chicago’s most exciting player since Sammy Sosa played for the Cubs, and his game-winning tater put him in the 30/30 club for the second consecutive season.

Crow-Armstrong became the first MLB player with a leadoff home run on the first pitch his team saw and a walk-off home run on the last pitch his team saw in a game since the Kansas City A’s Vic Power on May 7, 1957, according to OptaSTATS.The Cubs needed a big win after the Cardinals put a St. Louis-sized crater in their division title chase over the weekend. Chicago sits 4.5 games behind Milwaukee with 36 games to play, including seven against the Brewers. They’re five games ahead of the Phillies for the top Wild Card slot.

The chants of “M-V-Pete” get louder with each astounding feat. While Crow-Armstrong (8.2 fWAR) deserves consideration to be named most valuable player, he may not be able to successfully challenge Shohei Ohtani (7.0 fWAR) unless he continues at this pace for the final few weeks of the season. That’s after adding 0.5 fWAR on Monday’s performance alone. And get this: 12 qualified MLB hitters have produced an fWAR less than that this season, including Kyle Tucker (0.4). Still, PCA might need to get to 40/40 to win it, and even that’s no guarantee, though he’d be just the seventh player in league history to accomplish that feat.

  • José Canseco had 42 home runs and 40 stolen bases in 1988 and was named American League MVP.
  • Barry Bonds (1996) also went 42/40 but finished in 5th place in MVP voting despite leading the league in WAR.
  • Alex Rodriguez hit 42 home runs in 1998 with 46 stolen bases and finished 9th in that year’s race.
  • Alfonso Soriano blasted 46 bombs with 41 stolen bases for the Nationals in 2006 and finished 6th, though he did sign with the Cubs as a free agent that winter.
  • Ronald Acuña Jr. won the league MVP award in 2023 after posting 41 home runs with 73 stolen bases.
  • Ohtani joined the 50/50 club with 54 taters and 59 successful steals in 2024 and won his fourth MVP award in five seasons.

Crow-Armstrong is the first player in club history to go 30/30 in back-to-back seasons. He is the 10th MLB player to do that, a list that does not include Ohtani. PCA finished the night with four hits and was a triple shy of registering his second cycle of the season. Ohtani, by the way, also hit two home runs on Monday night, and it looks like the neck-and-neck race for league MVP will continue until the final game of the season.

Cubs News & Notes

Ball Four

Tucker is not this bad at baseball, and he’s not lazy. His home/road splits are extreme (.840 OPS on the road vs. .555 at home), so he must feel a lot of pressure to live up to his contract. The Dodgers have endless financial resources, so perhaps they should get Tucker to a sports psychologist.

Central Intelligence

How About That!

Ketel Marte is AWOL for the second consecutive season, so the Diamondbacks placed him on the restricted list.

Trey Mancini officially announced his retirement effective immediately.

Netflix might want to get out of the business of baseball. The viewership for this year’s Field of Dreams game was down about 50% from past games.

Retired Astros star Jeff Bagwell opened up about his journey to sobriety.

Three from the Bill Chuck Files

  1. Báez had a hell of a big league debut on Saturday against the Cubs. He hit a home run on the first pitch he saw from Matthew Boyd, and then went deep off of Boyd in his next two at-bats. He is the only player in MLB history to hit three home runs in his first three big league plate appearances. Three players have hit home runs in their first two times to the plate, and 145 players have hit a home run in their first big league at-bat.
  2. David Ortiz hit 541 career home runs but never had a three-homer game.
  3. On September 22, 1954, Dodgers left-hander Karl Spooner debuted against the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds and threw a three-hit shutout with 15 strikeouts. That was the most strikeouts in a big league debut in MLB history, matched in 1971 by J.R. Richard.

Apropos of Nothing

What did Harry Caray used to say? Shoulda, woulda, coulda?

Webb pitched to Munetaka Murakami in the 10th inning but gave him nothing to hit. He walked the slugger and escaped without any damage. Hagen Smith snuck a 2-0 fastball past Crow-Armstrong in the bottom of the inning and thought he could do it again with a slider. He failed. That’s your ballgame.

Extra Innings

More PC-Appreciation.

https://twitter.com/TheWrigleyWire/status/2089725663817216039

They Said It

  • “[If Nico] doesn’t tie it up for us, I don’t get that chance … Happer busting his tail down the line, beating out a double play ball … It’s just stuff like that where I can look back on it and think ‘That’s why I was up in the bottom of the 10th inning.'” – Crow-Armstrong
  • “Man, it’s pedal to the metal, like, have some conviction in the swings that you’re taking. Don’t be afraid to swing and miss kind of stuff. Simple as that, really.” – Crow Armstrong
  • “With conviction, maybe comes some peace and calm. When you’re playing offense in the batter’s box, I think that is pretty calming. I was really just trying to go out there and play offense today, not worry about punching, not worry about swinging and missing, not worrying about swinging at some shit that bounces five feet in front of me.” – Crow-Armstrong

Tuesday Walk-Up Song

There’s nothing better than a Cubs-Sox game with both teams in a pennant race.

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterAugust 18, 2026
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