Pete Crow-Armstrong lashed two homers and a double to outduel Shohei Ohtani and help the Chicago Cubs complete a three-game sweep of the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers with a 7-6 win on Wednesday afternoon.
Ohtani homered twice and singled in a showdown of the National League’s top Most Valuable Player candidates, but Crow-Armstrong and the Cubs seized the lead in the second inning and held on.
Nico Hoerner had three hits, an RBI and a run, Carson Kelly also had three hits and Michael Busch had two hits and scored a run for the Cubs, who handed the Dodgers their sixth straight loss.
Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga (8-9) allowed one run and scattered eight hits over five innings. He struck out six with no walks.
After the Dodgers made it close with five runs in the eighth, Jacob Webb pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his sixth save.
Max Muncy contributed a homer and Mookie Betts went 4-for-5 for the Dodgers, who have dropped eight of 10.
Los Angeles left-hander Eric Lauer (6-6) became the latest starter to falter. He was tagged for six runs and 11 hits in four innings, striking out one without a walk.
The Dodgers scored first when Ohtani led off the game with his 25th home run of the season.
Crow-Armstrong, serving as the designated hitter for just the second time in his major league career, tied it when he led off the bottom half of the first with his 25th home run of the season.
Hoerner led off the second with a single to right and scored from first on a one-out double into the left field corner by Dansby Swanson for a 2-1 lead. Lauer got the second out, but Crow-Armstrong doubled off the ivy in right to score Swanson for a 3-1 lead.
Crow-Armstrong came up again with two outs and a runner on first base in the fourth and clubbed a four-seam fastball high and deep over the wall in right to make it 5-1.
Seiya Suzuki followed with a double and came home on a single by Alex Bregman to extend the lead to 6-1.
Hoerner doubled home Busch in the seventh to make it 7-1.
Los Angeles rallied with five runs in the eighth on a three-run homer by Muncy off Caleb Thielbar, then a two-run shot by Ohtani off recently acquired Ryan Zeferjahn to cut it to 7-6.
