Last Night in Baseball: Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong Shows Off His Glove and Bat

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In 2024, the catch would have been the lone highlight for Crow-Armstrong. It’s 2025, though, and he’s batting .270/.307/.550 with 19 home runs, sitting among the NL’s league leaders in wins above replacement. Well, 19 homers after this massive eighth-inning blast, anyway:

Off of the Wrigley scoreboard in right field, a 452-foot long ball that served as the dagger. The Cubs didn’t need another run to win, no, since their pitching shut the Brewers down from the time they took the lead onward in the seventh, but this was a reminder that this version of Pete Crow-Armstrong can do it all.

Buxton called dibs

PCA isn’t the only double threat out there patrolling center field, of course. The Twins’ Byron Buxton showcased his own defensive chops and power on Tuesday, as well. In the bottom of the first against the Reds, Will Benson hit a ball to deep center field that was going to clear the wall, and it did… it’s just that Buxton’s glove was over the fence first waiting for it. 

The 31-year-old Buxton would then come up to bat the very next inning, with the score still tied 0-0, and take Andrew Abbott deep to what was basically the same spot in the outfield that he’d robbed Benson.

Reds’ center fielder TJ Friedl even attempted to steal Buxton’s would-be homer away, but couldn’t get lined up like the Twins’ outfielder did, and it was 1-0, Twins. The lead wouldn’t last, however, as the Reds would end up taking the game, 6-5. Twins fans got some highlights out of it, at least. Do those count in the standings?

Big Dumper’s big night

Cal Raleigh is having one hell of a season, for a catcher or otherwise. It had been a little bit since he’d gone yard, however — Raleigh had a home run robbed from him just last week, and had been stuck at 26 for the last seven games — which gave the Yankees’ Aaron Judge time to catch up and tie him for the big-league lead. Big Dumper took care of that tie with one swing of the bat on Tuesday night:

A grand slam is one way to announce that you’re back in the homer game, but Raleigh added another two RBIs and two other hits, besides, bringing his line for the season to .266/.374/.624 while giving him the MLB lead in homers and American League lead in RBIs. Raleigh was already one of the best-hitting catchers in the game before 2025, but his 188 OPS+ has him as one of the best hitters, period. The Mariners would defeat the Red Sox, 8-0, evening up the series before Wednesday’s afternoon finale.

Acuña flashes the D

Ronald Acuña Jr. is known far more for his bat than his glove, but he’s done surprisingly well out there in 2025 to this point, too. Tuesday night was one of the best examples of his improved play in right field, as he not only made a difficult leaping catch at the wall on a Pete Alonso flyball that would have gone for extra bases, but he then turned around and doubled up Mets’ slugger Juan Soto at first base from the warning track.

Soto looked a little confused and upset about the play, which suggests that he didn’t get the memo about that ball actually being caught before Acuña threw it back in, causing him to be caught up between first and second instead of safely back at the bag. 

It was a play with significant implications, too, as it came in the top of the ninth with a runner on and no outs, in a game tied 4-4 in Atlanta. The Braves doubled the Mets up here, the game went to extras, and Atlanta ended up winning, 5-4. New York has now lost four in a row, while the Braves picked up a much-needed win against their rival and one of the top teams in the league.

Rockies hit seven homers, tie franchise record

The Rockies have had a horrid season, but we should take the time to celebrate the wins where they come. Like on Tuesday against the Nationals, where the Rockies won 10-6, powered by seven home runs. Colorado tied a franchise record by going deep seven times, and also managed to hit four of them in one inning, the seventh:

Second baseman Thairo Estrada went yard in the second off of Michael Soroka, and then first baseman Michael Toglia went deep in the fourth, also off of Soroka. Things got out of hand when reliever Cole Henry entered into the game in the seventh: Henry failed to record an out, instead allowing four hits and four runs, with two of those hits homers. Backstop Hunter Goodman and third baseman Ryan McMahon went back-to-back off of Henry, and then Estrada hit his second of the game off of Jackson Rutledge, who came in for Henry, making it three dingers in a row. Sam Hilliard would add another to give them four for the frame, and DH Mickey Moniak would hit the seventh and final long ball of the evening in the eighth inning. 

Colorado would survive a four-run, last-gasp effort from the Nats to win 10-6, improving their record to 16-57. 

Blue Jays back-to-back walk-off

The Blue Jays got in on the back-to-back home run action, too, but they made it all dramatic in their own way. Down 4-3 in the ninth to the Diamondbacks in Toronto, leadoff hitter Bo Bichette tied things up at 4-4 with a home run to left-center off of closer Shelby Miller…

…and then Addison Barger followed up with his own shot to right field:

A tough game for Arizona to lose even without the context that, in spite of all of their issues this year, they remain just three back of a wild card spot. And on the flip side, an important one for the Blue Jays to come away from the winner, not just for the sheer excitement of it, but because, at 39-33 and on a night that the Red Sox lost while the Mariners and Guardians both won, they get to see their wild card lead strengthen just a little bit. There’s a lot of season left, but all of this adds up.

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Pete Crow-Armstrong

Chicago Cubs

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