Cubs, Pete Crow-Armstrong Furious as Umpires Admit to Missed Balk Call

Pete Crow-Armstrong nearly got himself tossed from Wednesday night's meeting with the Arizona Diamondbacks – and rightfully so.

The MVP frontrunner led off the sixth inning with a double. A Seiya Suzuki grounder would then advance Crow-Armstrong to third base in a scoreless game. Then, trying to get into the head of locked-in Arizona pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez, Crow-Armstrong acted as if he was going to make a break for home.

It worked.

Rodriguez hesitated on his windup and even proceeded to step off the rubber. Crow-Armstrong forced the rare balk and would now give the Cubs the lead. Except ... that's not how it went down.

Not a single umpire made the call, leading to a very frustrated Crow-Armstrong. Third base coach Quentin Berry and Craig Counsell also quickly got involved, giving the officials an earful. The umpires would all get together, but the call on the field remained the same. Crow-Armstrong was forced to stay at third, and the Diamondbacks would get out of the inning free.

The umpires in Arizona rules no balk was committed on this play.

Eduardo Rodriguez stepped off the rubber mid windup. pic.twitter.com/MqC6dIqItn
— Carson Wolf (@TheWrigleyWire) August 26, 2026

All it took was one glimpse at the replay to realize it was a textbook balk. And the umpires couldn't even help but admit as much after the game! According to Crew Chief Alfonso Márquez, per the pool report and Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune, he and his other umpires were in the wrong.

"We just didn’t see it. After looking at the video, it looked like he stepped off," Marquez said postgame.

It's an absolutely brutal outcome for the Cubs, who ended up losing the game 2-0. It marked their second-straight loss to Arizona, as well as their second consecutive series loss. They are now 6.5 games back of the Milwaukee Brewers for the NL Central lead.

As one can imagine, the Cubs were not too happy with the blown call in the clubhouse.

Cubs Sound Off on Costly Blown Call

Aug 26, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong (4) reacts after striking out against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the third inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Pete Crow-Armstrong may have a hefty fine coming his way from the MLB league office. He wasn't too kind to the officiating crew after the game, going so far as to say that he believes "they find new ways to screw something up every day."

To be clear, Crow-Armstrong recognized that there would have been more work to do for the Cubs to win the game. He also tipped his cap to the Diamondbacks for their solid play, as well as reprimanded himself for a poor series overall. But he didn't feel bad at all about speaking out against the umpires' blow call.

“I saw four umpires miss a pretty obvious play. They’re out there every day just like we are. Their one job is to get calls right, and if they get it wrong, they’re supposed to talk about it, figure it out, and get it right. And they didn’t … I don’t know how you miss someone starting their motion, stopping it, and then stepping off. I just don’t know. You’ll have to talk to them," Crow-Armstrong told reporters.

While Craig Counsell was a little safer with his commentary, he also couldn't help but voice his frustration:

“They flat-out missed it," Counsell said. "It’s obvious to everyone on TV, it obvious to everybody – they missed it. I don’t even know what to say. It’s hard to argue when they just flat-out missed it.”

Look, a missed balk isn't the reason the Cubs lost the game. Their bullpen let them down again, and they only finished the evening with two hits. However, there is no denying the missed call had a significant impact on the close game, so it's hard to blame anyone in a Cubs uniform for voicing their displeasure.

We'll see if Rob Manfred agrees!

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