Pete Crow-Armstrong crushed a pair of home runs and right-hander Colin Rae handled the rest as the Chicago Cubs beat the Minnesota Twins in an 8-1 blowout in Minneapolis on Thursday afternoon.
Rea (7-3) scattered three hits and struck out five in seven innings in what became a light workout behind Chicago’s offensive barrage. Crow-Armstrong was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and three runs scored and Seiya Suzuki added three hits.
The Cubs collected 14 total hits and after taking a 1-0 lead in the second, Crow-Armstrong’s two-run blast to center field made it 3-0. He led off the seventh inning with another long home run that put the Cubs in front 7-1.
Armstrong, who now has 25 home runs this season, also collected his 21st double of the season
Third baseman Royce Lewis had two of Minnesota’s four hits and the Twins’ lone run came on Kody Clemens’ solo shot with one out in the fifth.
Michael Busch added two RBIs for Chicago, which avoided a three-game sweep. Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner each finished with two hits and one RBI.
The Twins lost for only the second time in their past six games.
Twins right-hander Chris Paddack gave up six runs on 11 hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out two.
Cubs relievers Brad Keller and Daniel Palencia pitched one scoreless inning apiece to seal the victory.
Chicago started the scoring in the second. Swanson hit a one-out double to left and scored two batters later on Hoerner’s single to center.
Matt Shaw added a sacrifice fly in the fourth to put Chicago on top 4-0.
The hot hitting continued in the fifth. Busch and Swanson hit back-to-back, run-scoring singles. That pushed the Cubs’ lead to 6-0 and chased Paddack from the game at the end of the inning.
–Field Level Media
