Wrigley gives and takes

The Cubs lost 4-3 to the Pirates on Sunday, and the ballpark itself did most of the taking. A northerly breeze turned two Pete Crow-Armstrong blasts into outs.

“Wrigley Field giveth, and Wrigley Field taketh away.”

The first one dies at 371

In the third, Crow-Armstrong drove a ball to deep right. The wind shoved it back and Jake Mangum caught it on the warning track, 371 feet out.

A look of disbelief

Crow-Armstrong watched it land in the glove and stared. He had hit it well enough that the outcome made no sense to him.

The no-doubter that doubted

Two innings later he hit what looked like a sure homer, just to the wrong slice of the park. Oneil Cruz caught it in center, 389 feet away.

Head back, mouth open

The second one drew a bigger reaction. Crow-Armstrong threw his head back, mouth agape, as the ball settled into a center fielder's glove.

He saw it coming

Crow-Armstrong took it as the cost of the address. The park had been kind to him all season, so he figured a bill was due.

“You got to expect that playing here. It's been a pretty friendly park all year, so I was probably due for a couple of those.”

What it feels like

Asked what it's like to mash a ball and watch it get caught, he had a one-line answer that every Cubs hitter understands.

“It just feels like you're playing at Wrigley Field.”

A quiet stretch for 41

His last homer came Monday, No. 41 on the year. He has now gone five straight games without one, his longest drought since a six-game gap from July 30 to Aug. 4.

Counsell calls it a wash

The manager framed the wind as a rotating tax. Two swings that leave the yard on a calm day stayed in on this one.

“Pete took two very good swings. They're home runs on neutral days. But when he hit them, the wind was blowing in hard.”

Amaya beat the breeze

Miguel Amaya hit a two-run homer to left at the same distance that killed Crow-Armstrong's drive, right before the second robbery. Same park, different luck.

The bats went missing

After Nico Hoerner's sixth-inning groundout scored the third run, the Cubs managed one baserunner over the last three innings, a two-out walk in the seventh.

“Offensively, we weren't able to create anything today.”

Boyd's sixth inning

Matthew Boyd carried a 2-1 lead into the sixth, then walked Bryan Reynolds to start it. A single and a Nick Gonzales double tied the game before he could finish.

“It's just walking the leadoff guy, that just can't happen. It's completely on me.”

One hit, two runs

Aaron Civale gave up a single hit across two innings of relief. It was pinch hitter Brandon Lowe's, and it scored both inherited runners.

Bad day to go cold

The Phillies beat the Braves to tie Chicago atop the NL wild card, with the Cubs holding the tiebreaker. The Padres sat two back on a six-game winning streak.

Twelve games, no cushion

At 83-67, the Cubs face the ninth-toughest remaining schedule, including three against the first-place Braves and a season-ending set with the Red Sox.

“These are the fun games. This is the best part of the season, and you work really hard to get here.”