Crow-Armstrong Hits 42nd HR as Cubs Win

Pete Crow-Armstrong smashed his 42nd home run Monday night, matching Hall of Famer Billy Williams' Chicago Cubs record for a left-handed batter, and finished with four hits and four RBI in a 7-3 win over the Atlanta Braves at Wrigley Field. The All-Star center fielder also pushed his RBI total to 102, clearing 100 for the first time in three full seasons, per the AP recap on ESPN.

Crow-Armstrong's two-run double to the right-field corner made it 3-0 in the second. His two-run shot to the right-field bleachers in the sixth off AJ Smith-Shawver made it 7-0 and tied Williams' 1970 mark. It was his seventh four-hit game this season. That is peak PCA: gap power, center-field range, and a lineup that suddenly feels October-shaped for a fan base that has watched wild-card races slip before.

Peterson kept Atlanta quiet early

David Peterson (8-8) allowed one run on three hits over six-plus innings with seven strikeouts, including Matt Olson three times. Acquired from the Mets in June, Peterson is 5-2 with the Cubs across 13 starts. Nico Hoerner added two hits, scored twice, and drove in a run. Mike Yastrzemski's pinch-hit two-run homer off Javier Assad in the seventh was Atlanta's noise, not a comeback. Ronald Acuña Jr. ended it by grounding into a ninth-inning double play with the bases loaded against Ryan Zeferjahn.

Reynaldo López (4-5) lasted three innings and allowed five runs on six hits in his second rough start since returning from the injured list. Chicago has won three of four and left Wrigley feeling like a team with something to protect.

Attendance hit 34,515 on a 2:40 night, and the bleachers got the souvenir that tied Williams. Crow-Armstrong's season already had the All-Star stamp. Now it has a franchise lefty home run mark beside 102 RBI, which is the cleanest September résumé a Cubs center fielder has carried in years.

Wild-card math after Wrigley

The Cubs moved a half-game ahead of idle Philadelphia for the top NL wild-card spot at 84-67. Milwaukee still owns the Central by a wide margin. Kevin Gausman (9-12, 4.60 ERA) draws Martín Pérez (8-9, 3.08) on Tuesday as the series continues. For Cubs fans, the Monday takeaway is the record book and the standings in the same breath: Crow-Armstrong tied Williams, Chicago nudged Philly, and September still has room to climb if the bats keep matching that sixth-inning punch at Wrigley and on the road.