CHICAGO -- Chicago Cubs star Pete Crow-Armstrong is adding to his case for the National League MVP award.
Crow-Armstrong homered three times in Saturday's 17-5 blowout of the Cincinnati Reds. The All-Star center fielder also singled and scored in the fourth.
Crow-Armstrong is making a bid to unseat Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani as NL MVP after the Japanese slugger took home the honor each of the previous two years. Ohtani hasn't been able to pitch since July 3 because of left knee soreness and a right biceps injury.
While Ohtani has been limited to designated hitter with Los Angeles, Crow-Armstrong is one of baseball's top defensive players. And he has turned into a consistent threat at the plate as well.
The 24-year-old Crow-Armstrong hit a 435-foot drive to right-center in the first for his eighth career leadoff homer -- all this season. He went deep again in the second, sending a two-run shot off the foul pole in right for his 35th homer.
It was Crow-Armstrong's fifth multihomer game of the season and No. 11 for his career.
Crow-Armstrong got each of his first three hits off left-hander Andrew Abbott. He was batting .303 with nine homers and 31 RBIs this season against lefties coming into the day. He hit just .188 with seven homers and 27 RBIs against lefties in 2025.
Batting with runners on first and second in the seventh, Crow-Armstrong hit a 444-foot drive to center off right-hander Tony Santillan. The Wrigley Field crowd of 39,597 chanted "M-V-P! M-V-P!" as Crow-Armstrong rounded the bases.
It was Crow-Armstrong's first career three-homer game.
Alex Bregman, Carson Kelly and Seiya Suzuki also went deep for Chicago, which had lost three in a row and six of eight overall. The bottom of Chicago's lineup -- Tyrone Taylor, Pedro Ramirez and Kelly -- went 8-for-12 and scored nine runs.
