If the Dodgers are demoralized after their most recent two-game series against the Cubs…well, they should be.
The opener was a stunning display of failure on the part of Dodgers’ pitching (and the top of their lineup, for that matter) and a stunning display of grit on the part of the Cubs’ offense, but the finale was just as painful. LA squandered two leads, and then the offense completely disappeared after the sixth inning despite only being down by a run.
Ian Happ hit the walk-off RBI single for Chicago on the first night and their lineup was dialed pretty much from top to bottom, but the real star of the series was sophomore Pete Crow-Armstrong, who’s already redeeming himself from a lackluster rookie season.
He was already hitting pretty decently before this series, but his batting average shot up by 36 points and his OPS by 116 by the end of it.
He went 6-for-9 at the plate with seven RBI, including two homers — his fourth and fifth of the season. Two of the other three also came against the Dodgers when the Cubs visited LA a couple weeks ago.
That was (thankfully) the last time the Dodgers will see the Cubs in the regular season, but if these teams meet in the postseason, the Dodgers could have a huge problem on their hands.
Pete Crow-Armstrong has 5 HR this year
4 are against the Dodgers
(via @cubs)pic.twitter.com/INbNHZE6XR
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) April 24, 2025
Cubs’ star youngster Pete Crow-Armstrong is turning into an unstoppable Dodgers killer
The Cubs’ 16-10 record after Wednesday’s game lengthened their already pretty comfortable lead in the NL Central over the Brewers, the only other team in the division with a winning record.
The NL Central is unbearably winnable and the Dodgers have the far tougher divisional battle ahead, but the Cubs looked better than the Dodgers by every stretch of the imagination over the last two days.
Crow-Armstrong picked up four RBI on Wednesday with a three-run shot off of Noah Davis (who also gave up the winning run on Tuesday night) and then lengthened their lead in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI single.
The Cubs already have a couple of Los Angeles Dodgers killers in Nico Hoerner and former Dodger Michael Busch, who seems to delight in hammering the team that traded him, but PCA is already shaping up as a new member of those ranks.
If the Dodgers see the Cubs in October and both teams end up playing like this again, then there’s no way the Dodgers get to the World Series once more.
