Dodgers, Padres fans can strike a rare accord over downfall of Pete Crow-Armstrong

The stage is mostly set for the next round of the 2026 postseason. The Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies still have a tie-breaking game to play on Thursday night to determine who moves on to face the Los Angeles Dodgers, but the New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, and San Diego Padres are going to the division series.

With their backs to the wall, the Chicago Cubs lost to the Padres 4-1 on Wednesday night. Their offense, the highest-scoring in baseball in the regular season, could only muster up eight hits and a single run in two games. Pete Crow-Armstrong and Alex Bregman went a combined 0-for-15 with eight strikeouts.

Bregman had a bit of an excuse. He took a baseball to the face on September 20 and, somehow, was deemed ready enough to join the Cubs for their postseason run.

Crow-Armstrong, the National League MVP-apparent, had none. His repeated, check swing-induced tantrums toward third base umpire Bill Miller were no surprise to Dodgers fans, and Miller exercised a stunning amount of patience in deciding not to toss him for it.

It's not the first time PCA has failed to come through after talking a big game. In his first series facing the Dodgers in LA after bad-mouthing them, he went 2-for-10 with five strikeouts. After saying that he was "made for fall baseball," he completely disappeared.

Dodgers enemy Pete Crow-Armstrong completely withers in Cubs' Wild Card loss to Padres

This was only Crow-Armstrong's second trip to the postseason, but he might already be developing an Aaron Judgian reputation in October. Last year, he hit .185 with a .399 OPS in Chicago's similarly short-lived postseason visit and went 2-for-17 against his division rival Milwaukee Brewers.

The Dodgers know better than anyone that Petco Park can be an inhospitable place for a visiting team, especially during this time of year, but that's never stopped their biggest stars. Need we remind anyone of Game 4 of the 2024 NLDS?

Ultimately, it's bad news for the Dodgers that the Padres are moving on (though we can probably trust Milwaukee to make quick work of them), but it's still delightful that they helped to silence a common enemy.

With Shohei Ohtani's struggles this season, Dodgers fans can't even be that mad about Crow-Armstrong's eventual MVP win. We'll give that to him and the Cubs, but it's certainly going to taste a little more bitter after he completely failed to contribute in the postseason.

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