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  "path": "/cubs/2026/06/16/cubs-pete-crow-armstrong-cycle-homer-triple-double-single-picked-off-craig-counsell-sacrifice-fly-leadoff-home-run-matthew-boyd-injury-return",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-17T00:53:59.899Z",
  "site": "https://chicago.suntimes.com",
  "textContent": "<p>Homer, triple, double, single.</p><p>That’s what <b>Pete Crow-Armstrong</b> did to land himself in the Cubs’ record books Monday, <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/cubs/2026/06/15/cubs-pete-crow-armstrong-hit-for-cycle-walk-off-win-rockies-pedro-ramirez-matt-shaw-shota-imanaga\" >hitting for the cycle for the 13th time in club history</a>.</p><p>But manager <b>Craig Counsell</b>’s favorite moment from his center fielder’s big night?</p><p>That would be plate appearance No. 5, in which Crow-Armstrong drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.</p><p>A sac fly is one of baseball’s most boring ways to score a run. But it had Counsell jazzed postgame, not because it was an example of a player “doing the little things” or a key RBI in the game – though it was both, the RBI bringing the Cubs within a run an inning prior to their walk-off win – but because it showed Crow-Armstrong’s growth as a player.</p><p>Crow-Armstrong got the internet all riled up when, immediately after completing the cycle with a seventh-inning single, he was picked off first base.</p><p>“My excitement [over the cycle] was a little short lived,” Counsell laughed after the game.</p><p>Crow-Armstrong’s emotional reactions when things don’t go his way are well known to Cubs fans; they saw him slam enough bats into the ground during a second-half slump last summer.</p><p>But rather than let that pickoff eat him up and cloud his mind for the rest of the game, he moved on.</p><p>“That was a really good at-bat, and that’s a tough at-bat after you’ve done what you’ve done on the night,” Counsell said. “This is where I think there’s been improvement from Pete, to control your emotions and not try to [be like], ‘I’ve got to be the hero,’ and swing at every pitch. That’s where he’s improving.</p><p>“That was probably my favorite at-bat. It was: hit a ball hard, have a great at-bat, control yourself within the at-bat and swing at the right pitches. That’s the growth that’s exciting to see.”</p><p>It was reminiscent of a similar situation a couple weeks ago, when Crow-Armstrong lost a fly ball that landed behind him for an inside-the-park homer. Rather than be overcome by that miscue, <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/cubs/2026/06/04/cubs-walk-off-win-pete-crow-armstrong-dansby-swanson-dropped-fly-ball-slump-nl-central-standings\" >he homered and delivered a walk-off hit</a> in the following innings.</p><p>Does last year’s version of Crow-Armstrong do that? Maybe not, and that’s what had Counsell smiling about a sac fly on cycle night.</p><p>“I had an opportunity to let that moment, getting picked off, affect what happened, and we still had two innings to play,” Crow-Armstrong said. “It’s something that [Counsell] and I have addressed and discussed, or at least he’s acknowledged that he’s proud of the late-game at-bats from me and [that] when stuff doesn’t necessarily go my way, I still have the power to pick myself up but pick my teammates up, as well.”</p><p><b>For his next trick</b></p><p>How did Crow-Armstrong follow up his cycle? With yet another leadoff home run, his third in the last four games.</p><p>Crow-Armstrong started the bottom of the first inning Tuesday with a blast out to right field, his 14th long ball of the season and yet another big moment during a scalding hot stretch.</p><p>After the first-inning shot, Crow-Armstrong was batting .462 since May 30 with eight home runs and 15 extra-base hits.</p><p><b>Next step for Boyd</b></p><p>Lefty <b>Matthew Boyd</b>’s return from a stay on the injured list progressed further with a positively reviewed bullpen session Tuesday.</p><p>According to Counsell, the team’s Opening Day starter will head out on a minor league rehab assignment before stepping back into a banged-up big league rotation that could certainly use his services.</p><p>Boyd was set to return last weekend before the team <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/cubs/2026/06/10/cubs-matthew-boyd-injury-shoulder-soreness-javier-assad-craig-counsell-rotation-injuries\" >slowed down his comeback due to shoulder soreness</a>.</p>",
  "title": "Why a sacrifice fly was Craig Counsell’s favorite moment from night Pete Crow-Armstrong hit for cycle",
  "updatedAt": "2026-06-17T00:53:59.899Z"
}