The right field bleachers were electric, shirts twirling, “overrated” chants raining down. Then came the crack. A 444-foot missile that didn’t just clear the wall — it landed right in the heart of the Tarps Off section, delivered by the very player they were mocking. Saturday night at Busch Stadium wasn’t just another Cubs-Cardinals chapter. It was “The PCA Game.”
Pete Crow-Armstrong put on a show that longtime rivalry watchers will talk about for years. Four hits. A career-hardest-hit homer off Gordon Graceffo at 114.6 mph exit velocity. A sliding robbery of Jordan Walker to seal the night. And yes, the playful wave right back at the bare-chested crew that had been riding him all evening. Chicago rolled 6-1, and suddenly the energy that fueled the Cardinals’ home atmosphere for three weeks became fuel for a rival.
Cardinals rookie standout JJ Wetherholt couldn’t help but respect it. “I mean, shoot, he had a crazy day today. Hearing the crowd engaged and just, the boos, the hollering, all that type of stuff — it’s cool to be a part of.”
Kyle Leahy, who took the loss, was blunt about Crow-Armstrong: “It’s not rocket science with him — you’ve got to get ahead and put good pitches in good areas and then get him to expand when you have two strikes on him. He does a good job of hitting your mistakes.”
That’s the beauty and brutality of this 1892-born rivalry. One night you’re feeding off the crowd. The next, that same energy lights a fire under the visitor.
On the mound, Ben Brown was just as dominant. The Cubs right-hander carved through seven innings, surrendering just one run on a career-high efficiency. He needed only 27 pitches to get through the first three frames as the Cardinals’ aggressive approach played right into his hands. By the time St. Louis realized what was happening, Brown’s pitch count remained shockingly low.
“I remember, I think, going up to my third at-bat against him, I figured he’d be in the 70, 80 range — and I think I saw, like, 50s or 60s,” Wetherholt said. “I thought, dang. That’s not where we want to be. Kind of just got to tip your cap to him.”
Manager Oliver Marmol echoed the frustration on the offensive side: “The plan was to be on the attack. It didn’t work. He did a nice job against us tonight.”
The Cardinals now face the reality of a rivalry series slipping away. What made the Tarps Off movement special these past weeks was how it created a genuine home edge. On Saturday, it may have created the opposite — waking up a supremely talented young Chicago star who thrives in chaos.