ST. LOUIS — Pete Crow-Armstrong has been an essential component to the Cubs’ strong start to 2025.

A mental mistake and a failed bunt attempt on Tuesday night played pivotal parts in the Cubs dropping an 8-7 contest to the Cardinals, their third straight loss, tying their longest losing stretch of the season.

You’ve likely already seen the defensive gaffe in center field in the fourth inning where Crow-Armstrong lost track of how many outs there were, allowing Masyn Winn to score from second base on a flyout.

“Yeah simple as that [forgetting how many outs],” Crow-Armstrong said.

Three innings later, with runners on the corners and one out, Crow-Armstrong, the Cubs’ cleanup hitter, tried to lay down a push bunt. The ball went straight in front of the plate and was fielded by left-hander JoJo Romero, who threw it to first for the second out. Dansby Swanson flew out to Alec Burleson, who made a spectacular play against the netting in foul territory in right field, stymying the rally.

“That was an attempt for a little push bunt, trying to bunt for a base hit,” Crow-Armstrong said. “But I didn’t do a good job of playing the game of baseball today.”

It was a frustrating day for Crow-Armstrong. He’s been so good defensively for the Cubs this season – he is tops among National League outfielders in Outs Above Average (10) and has made plenty of highlight-reel catches this season for the Cubs.

But Tuesday’s gaffe was the low point of his season – a defensive blunder that eventually led to another loss. Jameson Taillon, who was on the mound for the run, downplayed the mistake.

“He’s been so good for us this year,” the right-hander, who allowed eight earned runs in four innings, said. “Obviously, he’s one of the best defenders in baseball. That’s just a freak thing, you know? He takes a lot of pride in his defense, takes a lot of pride in being a great teammate, so I’m not too worried about it.

“I was just more mad at myself for giving up the homers and giving up a lot of hard contact. I’m not too concerned with the eighth run I gave up. I’m concerned with all eight.

“I’m sure it won’t happen again. He’s been so good for us.”

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The Cubs are 1-5 in their last six games and are in jeopardy of losing back-to-back series for the second time this month. They’re 10-11 in June and hold just a 2.5-game lead on the Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central.

Crow-Armstrong and the Cubs, though, believe they can snap out of this funk.

“We got a very capable group, a lot of good leadership in this clubhouse,” Crow-Armstrong said. “This clubhouse has every ability to keep playing the way we were playing. Things haven’t gone our way, and we haven’t played the best baseball over the last couple weeks, but it’s just a two-week stretch that I’m positive we’re going to get past.”

How do they do that?

“Go to sleep and wake up,” Crow-Armstrong said.