EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsCHICAGO -- The milestones keep piling up for Chicago Cubs centerfielder and MVP candidate Pete Crow-Armstrong after he hit two home runs -- to lead off the game and to walk it off -- against the Chicago White Sox on Monday night in a wild 7-5, 10-inning victory over their crosstown rivals.Crow-Armstrong, 24, is the first player since 2010 to hit a leadoff homer as well as a walk-off one in the same game. It's also the first time in franchise history a Cubs player has ever accomplished that. And it vaulted him into the 30/30 club for the second consecutive season."Today I was like, 'man, it's pedal to the metal,'" Crow-Armstrong said after the win. "Have some conviction in the swings that you're taking. Don't be afraid to swing and miss kind of stuff. Simple as that really."Crow-Armstrong didn't like his performance over the weekend during a series loss to the St. Louis Cardinals so he took to the field early on Monday alongside hitting coach John Mallee. Tee work and some flips in the cage did the trick."The flips were just to see some ball flight, get out of the cage and just see ball fly," Crow-Armstrong explained.It flew a few hours later as well.Crow-Armstrong hit the first pitch he saw from White Sox starter Luis Castillo out of the park. He followed that up with a single, double and walk before bringing over 40,000 fans to their feet with a two-run homer in the tenth off reliever Hagen Smith to end the back-and-forth affair."He gets fooled by a slider, but the bats stays through the zone and its 380 feet," manager Craig Counsell said of the game-winner.White Sox manager Will Venable was asked if he considered walking Crow-Armstrong considering first base was open while the ghost runner occupied second."No, that's not an option there," he said. "With Seiya behind him, you know, that puts us in a tough spot, and (a walk) is not a thought. You think about all the options but that's not one we're going to make there."The blast made him the first player in franchise history with back-to-back seasons with 30 HR and 30 SB and the first with multiple 30 home runs seasons under the age of 25."This might be his best game in the big leagues right here," Counsell said. "It was an amazing game. ... We've had a number of these moments this season from Pete."Those moments have thrust him into the MVP race against Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani who also homered twice on Monday. Crow-Armstrong was asked if he's having fun with all the MVP talk."When you play a game like we did tonight, that's all the fun that I need in my life ever," he said. "So yeah, it's been really fun watching Jacob Webb pitch. I have much more fun doing that than paying attention to any of that stuff."Webb got out of a jam in the top of the 10th to earn the win which included five lead changes. Meanwhile, Crow-Armstrong's heroics helped raise his OPS to .929 - just behind Ohtani (.948) for tops in the National Leage."I don't think I've ever met a player like that," Cubs starter Shota Imanaga said through the team interpreter. "Expectations you might have for him, he always surpasses them."
