Cubs 7, White Sox 5: Crow-Armstrong Leads Off and Walks Off

August 17, 2026 - Chicago - Pete Crow-Armstrong hit Luis Castillo's first pitch down the right-field line, 376 feet, and out. Nine innings later he hit Hagen Smith's 2-1 slider 391 feet onto the right-field patio, Carson Kelly scoring ahead of him, and Wrigley spilled onto the grass.

The Chicago Cubs beat the Chicago White Sox 7-5 in 10 innings. Leadoff homer. Walk-off homer. First player to do both in the same game since 2010. First Cub to do it, ever. His 30th homer of the year. His 31st steal already in the book. Back-to-back 30-30 seasons, the first in franchise history.

He finished 4-for-5 with a walk and a stolen base: the leadoff homer, a single, a double, the walk, and the walk-off. Manager Craig Counsell did not hedge. "This might be his best game in the big leagues right here. It was an amazing game. We've had a number of these moments this season from Pete."

The lead changed four times. The 10th ended it.

Seiya Suzuki homered four pitches after Crow-Armstrong's leadoff shot, 440 feet to center. 2-0 Cubs. Randal Grichuk's three-run homer, his 10th, 404 feet, scored Munetaka Murakami and Miguel Vargas. 3-2 White Sox in the fourth. That was the first flip.

Shota Imanaga struck out 10 in six innings, one off his season high, two hits, three runs, 96 pitches. Grichuk's swing was the damage. Imanaga still left with a game the Cubs could win. Through an interpreter he said of Crow-Armstrong, "I don't think I've ever met a player like that. Expectations you might have for him, he always surpasses them."

Chicago took the lead back in the fifth without a homer. Nico Hoerner beat out an infield single. Suzuki and Ian Happ scored on a throwing error by third baseman Vargas. 4-3 Cubs. Hoerner finished 4-for-5 with two RBI. The infield single was the first. The ninth was the second.

The eighth belonged to the South Side. Pinch-hitter Andrew Benintendi sent Ryan Zeferjahn's first pitch into the right-field basket, 378 feet, Murakami scoring ahead of him. 5-4 White Sox. Wrigley went quiet the way it does when the other Chicago club takes the lead at night.

Hoerner tied it in the ninth. Michael Taylor scored, Happ to third, single to center. 5-5. Extra innings. Automatic runner. Crosstown game that had already changed leads four times.

Webb loads them. PCA empties the building.

Jacob Webb (5-2) inherited the 10th and left the bases loaded. Two walks. Two strikeouts. He got out of it. That sequence is the save Crow-Armstrong did not have to make, and the reason the walk-off was possible.

Crow-Armstrong led off the bottom of the 10th. Automatic runner Kelly on second. 2-1 slider from Smith (2-1), the fourth pitch of the at-bat. He took his left hand off the bat, pointed skyward, turned toward the dugout, then started a slow trot. Two-run shot, 391 feet onto the patio. 7-5. First career walk-off homer. Attendance 40,354, and most of them were still there.

The Cubs snapped a two-game skid. The White Sox had won three in a row and six of eight. They took two of three on the South Side earlier this year. Monday they left Wrigley with a leadoff-and-walk-off story they will hear about until the next Crosstown series.

Line: Cubs 7 runs on 14 hits in 10 innings; White Sox 5 runs on 4 hits, 2 errors; Crow-Armstrong 4-for-5, 2 HR, walk-off.

A 30-30 that now has a Wrigley ending

Crow-Armstrong is the first Cub with consecutive 30-homer, 30-steal seasons. Elias listed him with Chris Young (2010), Ian Kinsler, Reed Johnson, Darin Erstad, and Vic Power as the only players to hit a leadoff homer and a walk-off homer in the same game. MLB.com listed him as the 10th player in history to go 30-30 in back-to-back years. He is the first Cub with multiple 30-homer seasons under age 25.

Kevin Gausman (6-11, 4.53 ERA) starts Tuesday. The White Sox had not named a starter. Chicago is 73-53. The White Sox are 65-59. One walk-off does not win a Central. It does tell you what the Cubs have in center field when a rivalry game goes 10.

I would not put the MVP trophy on the patio brick. I would say this: a leadoff homer and a walk-off homer in the same Crosstown night is the kind of box score voters actually remember. Ohtani homered twice in Denver the same evening. Crow-Armstrong ended his game. Both things can be true.

AthX Engine angle

Crow-Armstrong led Monday's hitter board with 18 AthX Engine hitting fantasy points. Imanaga scored 17 pitching fantasy points with the 10-strikeout six innings. The Cubs finished with 12 team fantasy points. AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) graded the full 10-inning card, including the walk-off that closed it.

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*Sources: ESPN box score, MLB.com gameday, AP News, AthX Engine daily scoring for August 17, 2026. AthX Engine fantasy scoring is for information only and is not financial advice.*