Cubs 9, Reds 1: Crow-Armstrong Misses a Cycle and Ties the Home Run Lead

0-for-10, then a triple shy of the cycle

September 20, 2026 - Cincinnati - Pete Crow-Armstrong had gone 0-for-10 with four strikeouts in the first two games of the series. Sunday he singled, doubled, stole a base, hit his 45th homer, and popped up the ball that would have given him a cycle. The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 9-1 at Great American Ball Park.

Partly cloudy. 86 degrees. Wind 6 mph right to left. First pitch 1:41 p.m. Attendance 28,917. The game lasted 2 hours, 31 minutes. Chicago had 13 hits. Cincinnati had four.

The Cubs are 87-69. They still needed Arizona to lose to clinch a playoff berth on the afternoon, and Arizona did not lose. The MLB recap said Chicago owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Padres (5-1) and the Phillies (6-1). Sunday was the version of a clinch night that still asks you to wait.

A steal, a single, then four in the third

Crow-Armstrong opened the first with a single to right off Rhett Lowder. He stole second. The MLB recap said that put him two steals shy of the first 40-40 season in Cubs franchise history. Alex Bregman singled him home. 1-0.

The third was the inning that ended Lowder. Crow-Armstrong led off with a double, his 30th of the year. The MLB recap said that made him the 10th player in MLB history with 40-plus homers, 30-plus doubles, and 30-plus stolen bases in a season. Ian Happ singled him in. Nico Hoerner walked on a challenge that overturned the pitch result, Michael Busch scoring. Pedro Ramírez singled two more home. 5-0. Lowder had not finished the third.

Bregman was already in the middle of it. He left in the fourth after a foul ball from Busch hit him in the face. Crow-Armstrong, per the MLB recap: "At the end of the day, you hope your friend is OK. That's the news that I'm hoping for."

Three homers after Cincinnati's only run

JJ Bleday hit his 23rd in the fourth, a fly to right-center off David Peterson. 5-1. That was Cincinnati's afternoon.

Michael Conforto hit his 15th to lead off the fifth. Crow-Armstrong followed with his 45th, a fly to center, Ramírez scoring with him. 8-1. The MLB recap said that tied him with Kyle Schwarber for the major league lead. Seiya Suzuki added his 25th in the eighth.

Crow-Armstrong came up in that eighth against Carson Spiers with a chance at the triple. He popped up to Elly De La Cruz. The cycle stayed missing. The day did not.

"You commit to something and it works. You wonder why you can't do it every at-bat, but it's the nature of the game. It's what's hard about baseball," Crow-Armstrong said, per the MLB recap. "Today, I was really committed to something. I went out there and reaped the benefits. I had poor at-bats the last couple of days. I just came in today looking to turn that around."

Manager Craig Counsell, on the same recap: "It's a testament of how good he has been. When two games don't go well, it's like, 'Oh my gosh, he hasn't hit a home run or gotten a hit.' That speaks to what he has accomplished this year and how well he has performed. It's coming. That's how it's going to be this year. You may get him for a day or two, but it's coming."

Crow-Armstrong finished 3-for-5 with three runs, two RBI, a double, a homer, and a stolen base. Ramírez went 3-for-5 with two RBI. Happ had two hits. Suzuki, Conforto, and Bleday each homered. De La Cruz, Matt McLain, and Will Banfield had Cincinnati's other three hits. De La Cruz and McLain each stole a base. It did not change the scoreboard.

Peterson's six, and a clinch that waited

Peterson (9-8) threw six innings. Three hits. One run. One walk. Seven strikeouts. Eighty-three pitches. Bleday's homer was the only damage. Caleb Thielbar, Edward Cabrera, and Colin Rea finished the last three scoreless.

Lowder (6-12) lasted three innings. Six hits. Five earned. Three walks. Three strikeouts. Sixty pitches. Spiers threw four innings and allowed all three Chicago homers. The Reds are 72-84. Great American Ball Park did not get a Sunday they could use.

Chicago still has work. The Diamondbacks beat the Yankees later in the afternoon, so the Cubs did not toast on the field. They left Cincinnati with 13 hits, a 9-1, and a center fielder who turned a 0-for-10 weekend into the loudest card on the slate.

Asked why Crow-Armstrong should be National League MVP, Counsell said, per the MLB recap: "He has been the best player in baseball this year. It's not close. He performs every facet of the game at the highest level."

AthX Engine after the baseball

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) put Chicago at 20 team fantasy points, first on a 15-game Sunday. Crow-Armstrong had 14 hitting FP. Peterson had 21 pitching FP. Cincinnati finished at minus-8.

Fantasy points measure the night under platform scoring rules. Share prices also move with traders through dynamic pricing. They are related. They are not the same number.

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*Sources: ESPN recap and box score, MLB.com Gameday wrap, MLB.com schedule, and AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*