Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong gets 1st MLB hit with tiebreaking home run - ESPN

CHICAGO — Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a tiebreaking two-run homer for his first major league hit, and the Chicago Cubs swept the Houston Astros with a 3-1 victory on Thursday.

Houston has lost a season-high five straight and eight of nine overall. At 7-19, it is off to its worst 26-game start since it was 6-20 in 1969.

First-year manager Joe Espada was ejected by plate umpire Jansen Visconti in the top of the ninth.

«I just did not agree with his strike zone all day,» Espada said after his first ejection as a big league manager.

Crow-Armstrong was recalled from Triple-A Iowa when Cody Bellinger was placed on the 10-day injured list on Wednesday with two fractured ribs. The 22-year-old outfielder, who is considered one of the team's top prospects, made his big league debut last year and went 0 for 14 while appearing in 13 games.

He picked a perfect time for his first major league hit.

Houston had a 1-0 lead before Dansby Swanson scampered home on a fielder's choice grounder for Miguel Amaya in the sixth.

Espada then replaced Rafael Montero (0-1) with Bryan Abreu, who threw a wild pitch with Crow-Armstrong trying to sacrifice Amaya to second. Crow-Armstrong then drove his next pitch deep to right, delighting the crowd of 29,876 at Wrigley Field.

«It felt good to get it out of the way and it came at a great moment,» said Crow-Armstrong, who was mobbed by his teammates when he returned to the dugout. «That was by far the best part — getting to embrace the people who've been in my corner.»

Nico Hoerner had three hits and Mike Tauchman had a hit and three walks as Chicago won for the fourth time in five games. Hayden Wesneski (2-0) pitched 2 1/3 perfect innings for the win in relief of Javier Assad.

Hector Neris worked the ninth