Pete Crow-Armstrong Furious After Atrocious Blown Call Kills Rally

Chicago Cubs MVP candidate Pete Crow-Armstrong let the umpiring crew hear it after they missed a clear balk call in the sixth inning of their loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday.

Key points

• His 26 homers since then lead MLB, and his 20 stolen bases in that stretch lead the National League.
• Though they sit six games back of the divisional lead against the Brewers, despite their loss, the Cubs still sit atop the NL Wild Card Standings.
• Crow-Armstrong stood on third base in the top of the sixth inning after hitting a leadoff double and advancing a base on a Seiya Suzuki groundout.
• In doing so, he prompted Diamondbacks starter Eduardo Rodriguez to hurry his delivery and lift his back foot-something the umpiring crew should have classified as a balk.
• Crow-Armstrong, despite his recent skid, has been one of the best-if not the best-players in baseball over the past couple of months.

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Crow-Armstrong stood on third base in the top of the sixth inning after hitting a leadoff double and advancing a base on a Seiya Suzuki groundout. Trailing a run with two outs, Crow-Armstrong took a sizeable lead off of third and broke towards home before returning to third base.

In doing so, he prompted Diamondbacks starter Eduardo Rodriguez to hurry his delivery and lift his back foot-something the umpiring crew should have classified as a balk. They missed the call, though, and balks aren't reviewable. The Cubs didn't score that inning, nor did they for the remainder of the game as they lost, 2-0.

"They're out there every day like we are, " Crow-Armstrong remarked. "Their one job is to obtain calls right and if they secure it wrong they're supposed to talk regarding it, figure it out and secure it right. And they didn't. I think they find new ways to screw something up every day."

Notably, the umpiring crew owned up to their mistake after the game, sharing their side of the story.

"We just didn't see it, " crew chief Alfonso Márquez remarked. "After looking at the video, it looked like he stepped off."

Though they sit six games back of the divisional lead against the Brewers, despite their loss, the Cubs still sit atop the NL Wild Card Standings. As he had a rough series in Arizona, crow-Armstrong's frustrations may have come to a boiling point at the time of the balk. He went 1-for-12 during the series, with his only hit being the double Wednesday. How Well Has Pete Crow-Armstrong Performed This Season?

Crow-Armstrong, despite his recent skid, has been one of the best-if not the best-players in baseball over the past couple of months. Crow-Armstrong began the year slow, posting a near league-average bat for the first couple months of the season, but leads the league in wRC+ since the beginning of June.

His 26 homers since then lead MLB, and his 20 stolen bases in that stretch lead the National League. Along with his offensive excellence, Crow-Armstrong is the best defensive outfielder in MLB by a wide margin, and could be the best defender in the league.

As he has shown the ability to change games with his overwhelming impact on both sides of the ball, the potential MVP's recent skid shouldn't be too worrying. View Editorial & AI Guidelines.

For now, pete Crow-Armstrong Furious After Atrocious Blown Call Kills Rally remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.