The Cubs just wiped the floor with the two-time defending champion Dodgers, completing a three-game sweep on Wednesday afternoon with a tight 7-6 win. But that incredible series victory isn’t even the biggest story. Pete Crow-Armstrong and Shohei Ohtani are now dead even in the National League MVP odds after both went absolutely nuclear, hitting two homers each on Wednesday to tie at -110 on FanDuel. Can you believe it?
Pete Crow-Armstrong’s MVP Surge is Real
Ohtani, a four-time MVP who won the last two seasons with the Dodgers, was the clear favorite when this series against the Cubs kicked off. Nobody expected Crow-Armstrong to make this kind of noise. Yet, his fingerprints were all over this historic sweep. In Game 1, a 10-5 Cubs victory, Crow-Armstrong kicked things off with a single and then scored on a Seiya Suzuki home run. Later, he walked and scored again, getting on base twice and grabbing two runs. That was just the warm-up, the least amount of chaos he caused all series!
Game 2 was even more intense. Dodgers’ two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal made his debut, and while he struck out Crow-Armstrong to start the first, things shifted fast. With the game tied 1-1 in the third, Crow-Armstrong singled, stole second, and made Skubal work for it. Then, in the seventh, with the Cubs holding a razor-thin 2-1 lead and a runner on second with two outs, who else but Crow-Armstrong came through with an RBI single? He wasn’t done! He stole second again and then scored on another single. He finished Game 2 going 2 for 4 with an RBI, a run, and a stolen base. Seriously, the guy was doing everything.
Ohtani Fights Back, But the Dodgers are in a Tailspin
Game 3 was an absolute slugfest, a real showcase of these two MVP frontrunners. Ohtani led off the game with a home run, bringing the power right out of the gate. But Crow-Armstrong answered immediately, matching him in the bottom half of the first. Talk about a statement! That opening exchange even made MLB history, marking the first time ever that each team hit a leadoff homer with a lefty facing a left-handed pitcher. Wild, right? In the bottom of the second, with the Cubs up 2-1, Crow-Armstrong stepped up again with a runner on second and two outs, doubling home the run to make it 3-1. Next time up, same situation, runner on, two outs, and he crushed another homer! Through four innings, he was a ridiculous 3 for 3 with two home runs, a double, four RBI, and two runs scored, building a commanding 6-1 Cubs lead.
The Dodgers, though, refused to roll over easy. They made things unbelievably interesting with a five-run eighth inning, cutting the Cubs’ lead to 7-6 on a two-run shot from none other than Ohtani himself. Both Ohtani and Crow-Armstrong went deep twice in Game 3, a rare feat. While Ohtani continues to star, the national focus after this sweep has shifted: the Dodgers are on a six-game losing streak now, and Skubal’s big debut was overshadowed. The MVP race is officially a two-horse battle, and it’s heating up like crazy.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by CBS Sports.
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