Pete Crow-Armstrong homered and drove in three runs for the second time in as many games, fueling the visiting Chicago Cubs to a 5-4 victory over the San Diego Padres on Wednesday.
Matt Shaw belted a solo homer among his three hits for the Cubs, who won the final two contests of the three-game series to improve to 12-3 in their last 15 games.
Crow-Armstrong launched a two-run shot in the fourth inning. The homer was the third of the season for Crow-Armstrong, who belted a three-run blast in Chicago’s 8-3 victory over San Diego on Tuesday.
Crow-Armstrong drove in the go-ahead run in the sixth on a groundout to first base. Michael Conforto ran on contact and used a swim move at home plate to dodge the tag of catcher Luis Campusano.
Jameson Taillon (2-1) retired the first 14 batters he faced before Miguel Andujar homered in the fifth. Nick Castellanos belted a two-run blast in the inning, however Taillon settled down and finished the seventh. He allowed three runs on three hits and struck out six with one walk.
Corbin Martin walked the bases loaded in the eighth before being relieved by Ben Brown, who surrendered a sacrifice fly to Fernando Tatis Jr. that trimmed Chicago’s lead to 5-4. Brown induced Manny Machado to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Brown retired the first two batters in the ninth before Hoby Milner struck out Ramon Laureano on three pitches to secure his first save of the season.
Adrian Morejon (2-1) yielded one run on one hit in two-thirds of an inning.
Miguel Amaya’s RBI single to center field opened the scoring in the second before Chicago extended its lead to 3-0 in the fourth. Shaw reached on a two-out bunt single before Crow-Armstrong deposited a 0-1 sweeper from Waldron over the wall in right field.
Andujar sent a 1-2 sweeper from Taillon over the wall in left field. Jake Cronenworth followed with a walk before Castellanos deposited a 1-0 cutter over the wall in left-center field to forge a 3-3 tie. The homers were the first of the season for both Andujar and Castellanos.
Padre bench coach Randy Knorr filled in for manager Craig Stammen, who attended an out-of-town funeral.
