PITTSBURGH — The bat drop said it all in the moment for Pete Crow-Armstrong.

A prodigious home run pace in the first half — 27 in an 83-game stretch — had vanished amid Crow-Armstrong’s pronounced post-All-Star-break struggles. The Chicago Cubs center fielder came into Monday’s series opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates with only six extra-base hits in his last 150 plate appearances spanning 38 games.

Missing hittable pitches has plagued Crow-Armstrong. He has logged plenty of extra pregame cage work trying to recapture the timing and swing that fueled a major-league-best Cubs offense.

For the first time since Aug. 22 — and only the second time in the last seven weeks — Crow-Armstrong went deep Monday in the Cubs’ 4-0 victory. He knew it off the bat, immediately dropping his lumber wh

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