Crow-Armstrong hits 2 of Chicago's 5 homers and Cubs outslug Baltimore Orioles 9-7

BALTIMORE (AP) — Pete Crow-Armstrong hit two of Chicago's five home runs and the Cubs outslugged the Baltimore Orioles 9-7 on Wednesday night.

Michael Conforto and Carson Kelly also went deep on the first two pitches of the fifth inning for Chicago, tying the game immediately after Pete Alonso's two-run shot had given Baltimore a 3-1 lead.

Chicago then scored five runs in the seventh, including a three-run shot by Seiya Suzuki.

Tyler O'Neill homered twice for Baltimore and Coby Mayo also went deep.

Colin Rea (7-5) allowed three runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings for the Cubs. Dean Kremer (1-2) gave up just six hits in five innings, but four of them were solo homers.

Down 9-3 in the seventh, the Orioles made it interesting against Chicago's bullpen. O’Neill’s pinch-hit homer and Taylor Ward’s RBI single made it 9-5 in the seventh. Then Mayo added a 420-foot homer into the second deck in left field in the eighth, and O'Neill followed with a 433-foot drive to left-center.

Jacob Webb halted the comeback, pitching a perfect ninth for his fourth save.

Crow-Armstrong now has 21 home runs and he became baseball's first 20-homer, 20-stolen base man of the season. He's just the third Cubs player with multiple 20-20 campaigns, along with Ryne Sandberg and Sammy Sosa. Only Sosa and Crow-Armstrong have done it in back-to-back seasons.

No. 9 hitter Jackson Holliday had four hits for the Orioles, but leadoff man Gunnar Henderson went 0 for 5 without hitting the ball out of the infield. Henderson hit into two double plays, and when he finally hit a sharp line drive up the middle with a runner on second in the eighth, shortstop Dansby Swanson made a diving catch to end the inning.

One of the double plays Henderson hit into brought a run home, tying the game at 1 in the third after Crow-Armstrong had opened the scoring in the top of the inning.

After Alonso's 20th homer, Kremer allowed solo shots by Conforto, Kelly and Crow-Armstrong in a four-batter span.

It was still 4-3 in the seventh when Grant Wolfram came in to pitch with two on and one out. He allowed a walk, a sacrifice fly and another walk before throwing a run-scoring wild pitch and then allowing Suzuki's 14th homer.

The Cubs go for a three-game sweep Thursday, sending David Peterson (4-7) to the mound against Trevor Rogers (6-7). The game was moved to 1:35 p.m. ET because of potential bad weather.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Baltimore Orioles' Jackson Holliday hits a single off Chicago Cubs pitcher Colin Rea during the third inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, July 8, 2026, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)

Chicago Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong hits a home run off Baltimore Orioles pitcher Dean Kremer during the third inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, July 8, 2026, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)

Chicago Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong runs the bases after hitting a home run off Baltimore Orioles pitcher Dean Kremer during the third inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, July 8, 2026, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)

Nvidia’s board has cleared the way for the company to spend $150 billion more in share buybacks as the chipmaking giant looks to make use of more of its stellar revenue growth fueled by demand for its high-end artificial intelligence chips.

The Santa Clara, California, company said Monday the share buyback increase, which it touted as the largest ever, brings its stock repurchase program to $235 billion.

Nvidia said it expects to “execute” the share buyback plan through its fiscal year that ends in Jan. 30, 2028.

Companies use repurchases, in part, to return cash to investors and support the stock’s price. Earnings per share can increase because there are fewer shares outstanding. Buybacks also signal confidence from leadership about a company’s financial prospects.

“NVIDIA’s growth is being driven by a once-in-a-generation platform shift to AI and accelerated computing,” said Jensen Huang, Nvidia's founder and CEO. “Our cash generation gives us the capacity to invest in the technologies that advance this transformation and return capital to shareholders. This authorization reflects our confidence in the long-term opportunity ahead.”

Shares in Nvidia climbed 2.1% in afternoon trading Monday. The stock is up about 24% so far this year.

Nvidia’s high-end chips have emerged as the leading building blocks for AI, and are highly sought after. The company reported quarterly profits of $59.69 billion late last month.

While AI has powered stock market gains and U.S. economic growth in recent years, there’s been growing skepticism about whether AI will justify the trillions of dollars being spent to develop the technology.

The AI industry also faces increasing pushback amid objections to the expansion of data centers and fears that the rapid speed of AI adoption could lead to widespread job losses worldwide.

FILE - This is the NVIDIA logo on a gaming computer screen box at a Best Buy store in Pittsburgh on Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, file)