Pete Crow-Armstrong recorded his first three-homer game and drove in six runs to power the host Chicago Cubs to a 17-5 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday.
Crow-Armstrong increased his team-leading homer total to 36 with a solo shot in the first inning, a two-run blast in the second and a three-run homer in the seventh.
Chicago’s Carson Kelly launched a three-run homer and had an RBI double. Seiya Suzuki belted a two-run homer while Alex Bregman also went deep and added an RBI single to highlight their three-hit performances.
Tyrone Taylor matched Crow-Armstrong with four of the Cubs’ 19 hits and Nico Hoerner added an RBI single to help the team snap a three-game losing skid.
The power display proved enough for Kevin Gausman (8-11), who allowed five runs on six hits in five innings.
Cincinnati rookie Sal Stewart belted a two-run shot for his team-leading 30th homer of the season. Eugenio Suarez also had a two-run homer and JJ Bleday added a sacrifice fly for the Reds, who lost for the 10th time in 15 games.
Crow-Armstrong opened the scoring by depositing a 0-1 fastball from Andrew Abbott (6-10) over the wall in right center to lead off the first. Seiya Suzuki followed with a single and Bregman sent a 0-2 curveball over the wall in center to stake Chicago to a 3-0 lead.
Suarez trimmed his team’s deficit to 3-2 by jumping on a Gausman fastball in the second.
Taylor extended the Cubs’ lead to 4-2 by scoring on a throwing error in the second before Crow-Armstrong blasted a 1-2 curveball from Abbott over the wall in right.
Stewart answered with a two-run homer in the third inning. However, Bregman gave the Cubs a 7-4 lead in the fourth when he recorded his team’s third straight single to score Crow-Armstrong.
Bleday’s sacrifice fly brought the Reds within two in the top of the fifth, but Kelly and Crow-Armstrong effectively put the game out of reach with their respective three-run homers.
Abbott lost his third straight start after permitting seven runs on eight hits in three innings.