As Pete Crow-Armstrong turns into a star for the Cubs, he's showing more emotion

CHICAGO (AP) — Pete Crow-Armstrong is flashing his talent — and showing more emotion.

The speedy Chicago Cubs center fielder beat his chest after he lined a triple off the glove of his White Sox counterpart, Luis Robert Jr., in the Cubs' 6-2 win over their crosstown rivals on Sunday at Wrigley Field.

Moments later, Crow-Armstrong called himself safe at the plate when he scored on Seiya Suzuki's sacrifice fly.

Crow-Armstrong also drove in the go-ahead run with a sixth-inning double as the NL Central-leading Cubs completed a three-game sweep of the White Sox.

After a slow start this season, the 23-year-old has reached base in career-high 15 straight games. Crow-Armstrong is 11 for his last 21, raising his average to .290 and powering a Cubs lineup that had produced the second-most runs in baseball entering Sunday.

He also has 12 homers, 38 RBIs and 14 stolen bases in 47 games this season, along with some flashy catches. There’s no reason for Crow-Armstrong, drafted 19th overall by the Mets in 2020, to hold back, especially in front of sellout crowds at Wrigley.

“I think that’s just who I am,” he said. “You don’t really have those moments where you really think about how you're going to react to a double of triple or anything like that. Nothing about this (stuff) is planned. I think baseball brings it out of all of us. It’s about the sport.”

Crow-Armstrong came to the Cubs in a 2021 deal that sent Javier Báez and Trevor Williams to the New York Mets. He got into 13 games in 2023, then played 123 last season with a .237 average and 10 homers.

“Knowing my role and what was asked of me early was one other bigger learning curves, but that’s only because I wasn’t playing well and I didn’t know how to impact,” Crow-Armstrong said.

Crow-Armstrong learned in a hurry. Cubs manager Craig Counsell has shown his faith in the Sherman Oaks, California, native, who batted leadoff on Sunday.

“That’s probably the best example of people giving me space, to fail first of all, but giving me every day, every chance that I’ve got just to be myself and play my kind of baseball,” Crow-Armstrong said.

As for his apparent role as an emotional leader?

"I think we have our fair share of dudes who like to let it pop,” Crow-Armstrong said. “You know when the time calls for it. ... Probably, you see a little bit more from me.”

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Chicago Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong, right, celebrates with Seiya Suzuki, left,of Japan, after they defeated the Chicago White Sox in a baseball game in Chicago, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Chicago Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong, right, celebrates with fans after scoring on a sacrifice fly by Seiya Suzuki, of Japan, during the sixth inning of a baseball game against Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Chicago Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong reacts after scoring on a sacrifice fly by Seiya Suzuki, of Japan, during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Chicago Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong scores on a sacrifice fly by Seiya Suzuki, of Japan, during the first inning of a baseball game against Chicago White Sox catcher Edgar Quero in Chicago, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Chicago Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong, center front, celebrates after hitting a triple during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s government accused the United States of attacking civilian and military installations in multiple states after at least seven explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard around 2 a.m. local time Saturday in the capital, Caracas.

The Pentagon and White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Smoke could be seen rising from the hangar of a military base in Caracas. Another military installation in the capital was without power.

People in various neighborhoods rushed to the streets. Some could be seen in the distance from various areas of Caracas.

“The whole ground shook. This is horrible. We heard explosions and planes,” said Carmen Hidalgo, a 21-year-old office worker, her voice trembling. She was walking briskly with two relatives, returning from a birthday party. “We felt like the air was hitting us.”

Venezuela’s government, in the statement, called on its supporters to take to the streets.

“People to the streets!” the statement said. “The Bolivarian Government calls on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilization plans and repudiate this imperialist attack.”

The statement added that President Nicolás Maduro had “ordered all national defense plans to be implemented” and declared “a state of external disturbance.”

This comes as the U.S. military has been targeting, in recent days, alleged drug-smuggling boats. On Friday, Venezuela said it was open to negotiating an agreement with the U.S. to combat drug trafficking.

Maduro also said in a pretaped interview aired Thursday that the U.S. wants to force a government change in Venezuela and gain access to its vast oil reserves through the monthslong pressure campaign that began with a massive military deployment to the Caribbean Sea in August.

Maduro has been charged with narco-terrorism in the U.S. The CIA was behind a drone strike last week at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels in what was the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the U.S. began strikes on boats in September.

U.S. President Donald Trump for months had threatened that he could soon order strikes on targets on Venezuelan land. The U.S. has also seized sanctioned oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela, and Trump ordered a blockade of others in a move that seemed designed to put a tighter chokehold on the South American country’s economy.

The U.S. military has been attacking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean since early September. As of Friday, the number of known boat strikes is 35 and the number of people killed is at least 115, according to numbers announced by the Trump administration.

They followed a major buildup of American forces in the waters off South America, including the arrival in November of the nation’s most advanced aircraft carrier, which added thousands more troops to what was already the largest military presence in the region in generations.

Trump has justified the boat strikes as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the U.S. and asserted that the U.S. is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.

Meanwhile, Iranian state television reported on the explosions in Caracas on Saturday, showing images of the Venezuelan capital. Iran has been close to Venezuela for years, in part due to their shared enmity of the U.S.

Pedestrians walk past the Miraflores presidential palace after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)

Residents evacuate a building near the Miraflores presidential palace after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)

Smoke raises at La Carlota airport after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Pedestrians run after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Smoke raises at La Carlota airport after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Smoke raises at La Carlota airport after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Pedestrians run after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)