Two deep Crow-Armstrong drives show Wrigley’s other side

Pete Crow-Armstrong hit two balls a long way Sunday and watched both settle into gloves. In the third inning, a drive to right traveled 371 feet; in the fifth, another reached center 389 feet away. The Sun-Times' account described wind pushing back both attempts during Chicago's loss to Pittsburgh.

Craig Counsell considered them good swings that would have cleared the fence in neutral conditions. That assessment is useful context for an afternoon in which the box score alone can make the contact look ordinary.

The contrast came from Miguel Amaya, whose two-run homer briefly put Chicago ahead. The Cubs later loaded the bases with one out in the sixth but managed only a Nico Hoerner RBI groundout, as Cubs Insider reported. Pittsburgh won 4-3.

Wrigley's conditions help explain the two long outs; they do not erase the other chances Chicago had. The missed sixth-inning opportunity is a separate part of the result.

For Crow-Armstrong, the distinction is between evaluating a swing and counting its outcome. Sunday supplied two hard reminders that those are related, but not identical. Chicago needs the production, while its coaches also have to recognize useful contact when the park keeps it in play.