Pete Crow-Armstrong faced a 2-1 count in his fourth at bat of the night, with Joel Payamps delivering a slider diving well outside the zone. Conventional wisdom considers that an easy take, to set up a true hitter’s count and increase odds of getting on base.

Crow-Armstrong swung anyway. Oddly enough, it was the right call.

The Chicago Cubs center fielder went way down and got absolutely all of it. Ball left bat at 107.3 mph and sailed 388 feet for his second home run of the night.

Crow-Armstrong continued his torrid hitting Friday in a 10-0 win over the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field. He has eight home runs since Aug. 13, is crushing the ball at every turn and, in doing so, has endeared himself to a loyal Cubs fan base.

Crow-Armstrong is having his way with strikes, but he can produce even while going outside the strike zone to do it.

That’s a good thing, when it works. Ever-measured Cubs manager Craig Counsell can’t argue with the results, but he doesn’t want his guys falling victim to swinging at bad pitches.

“It’s the blessing and the curse, because the next at-bat, he swung at a ball that was in the dirt,” Counsell said after the game. “His bat path works just below the zone really well, but he’s going to swing down there. What he’s doing now is pretty amazing, on pitches out of the strike zone. That’s just Pete.”

His first home run was a no-doubter, on a pitch left a bit up in the zone that he easily hit hard. Crow-Armstrong golfed the second one out of the park, somehow producing power out of the swing.

That doesn’t always happen, but it has become a somewhat regular occurrence during his hot start to the season.

“It didn’t really work out that well last year, but I think being able to have better at-bats this year has allowed me to take better swings on those kinds of pitches regularly but, realistically, I think the goal is to not be swinging at those all the time,” Crow-Armstrong said. “If that’s just a pitch that I see and react to, I’m giving myself the room to swing at it. But I’ve always hit the ball well down, so I would attribute (the production) to that. I’ve always done that. I don’t love getting into the habit of hitting those kinds of pitches well. It usually leads to some chase.”

Sometimes locked-in just hits different, as Crow-Armstrong has been so good lately as an all-around player in his second season as a full-time starter. The offensive improvement is pronounced, with Crow-Armstrong working on mechanics he believes will enhance the consistency he craves.

Fans and teammates have enjoyed this early season star turn, as he plays with an infectious energy that has led to several P-C-A! chants to this point.

“He loves to be out there, loves to play the game,” Cubs first baseman Michael Busch said. “One of the things that has impressed me the most is his ability to cover some of these pitches he’s hitting below the zone, but also hard fastballs up in the zone. It’s not as easy as he’s making it look, but he’s a great kid and a hard worker with a lot of talent.”

Crow-Armstrong was quick to credit his teammates for his productive start, which shows no sign of slowing down to this point.

“I know what I do well a little bit better than I did last year,” Crow Armstrong said. “Having a whole year under my belt now, I just feel more comfortable in the box. That’s a nice place to start.

“What I would say, too, and not to discredit myself, it’s so easy to hit in this lineup. I just feel so confident going up to the plate in the No. 7 hole. Talk about flying under the radar, I feel like I can kind of hide there. It’s so easy to want to go have a good at-bat when you’ve got eight other guys who can really do it.

“There’s so much room to succeed here. That really helps.”