Cubs, Taillon continue to rebound, take 3 of 4 from Cardinals in 7-2 win
What a difference 72 hours makes.
After the Cardinals beat Marcus Stroman and the Cubs on Thursday for their sixth straight victory, it looked like St. Louis would jump over manager David Ross' squad in the NL Central standings.
Instead, the Cubs steadied the ship, won three straight and changed the entire narrative ahead of the looming Aug. 1 trade deadline.
"That was a huge series," said first baseman Trey Mancini, who had an RBI double during the Cubs' 7-2 victory at Wrigley Field on Sunday. "As a player you don't want to see any of your teammates get traded. Hopefully we can keep playing well."
Cody Bellinger stayed red hot, with a 2-run homer in the first inning and a sacrifice fly RBI in a 5-run third. He's now an MLB-best 41-for-94 (.436) since June 24.
But the best news for the Cubs (48-51) was getting another solid start from Jameson Taillon (4-6). The big righty gave up just 1 run on 7 hits while striking out six in 5⅔ innings. He threw a season-high 109 pitches and lowered his ERA to 5.75.
This makes two of three impressive performances from Taillon, who signed a four-year deal in the off-season after going 14-5 with a 3.91 ERA with the Yankees in 2022.
"He's got a nice mix," said manager David Ross. "He pounds the zone. Not walking guys, getting ahead and getting some soft contact."
Taillon's ERA ballooned to as high as 8.10 on May 20 and was still a wretched 6.93 after he allowed 4 earned runs in 5 innings to Cleveland on July 2.
But then came a breakout performance against his former team in New York (1 hit allowed in 8 innings), a decent outing against the Nationals (3 runs allowed in 5⅔ innings) and then Sunday's gem.
Taillon said earlier in the season the delivery on his fastball "abandoned" him and "it started leaking into my off-speed pitches."
Suddenly the curveball was worse, he wasn't throwing the change-up much and he tried relying on his cutter.
"Now that I feel like we've gotten back to throwing the four-seam up, throwing it down-and-away, that makes the curveball (and) changeup better," Taillon said. "Then when I throw the cutter more they're not (looking) for it. That's opened everything up.
"So, yeah, I definitely feel like a closer version of myself (rather) than (being) out there kind of just faking it."
Taillon gave up 4 hits in the sixth inning and was removed with runners on second and third with two outs. He exited to a warm ovation - one of the few he's heard at Wrigley this season.
"I walked out a little nervous because I left some runners on base ... but that's a very gratifying moment," Taillon said. "Fans are into it here every game. Packed house. Cubs-Cardinals. Doesn't get much better than that. "That was really, really cool. Hopefully there's a lot more of that to come."
The Cubs batted around in the third, with a pair of walks to Patrick Wisdom and Seiya Suzuki setting the table. After Bellinger's sac fly, Dansby Swanson had an RBI single to center, Yan Gomes had a 2-run double to left, and Mancini grounded an RBI double down the third-base line.
After an off day Monday, the Cubs play the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Around the horn:
Nick Madrigal was supposed to DH for Triple-A Iowa on Sunday, but sat out with "general lower body fatigue." Madrigal, on the IL with a strained hamstring, went 2-for-6 in his first two games of the rehab assignment. ... Relief pitcher Brad Boxberger, who has been out since mid-May with a right forearm strain, will begin throwing bullpen sessions next week. ...
The Cubs reached base 21 times during an 8-6 victory over St. Louis on Friday, the 10th time they've had 20-plus batters reach in a game. That is tied for second-most in the majors, behind only Cincinnati (11). ... The Cubs also left 12 of those runners on base Saturday to up their season total to 706 - third-worst in MLB. ... Former Blackhawks defenseman Chris Chelios threw out the ceremonial first pitch Sunday. Chelios, who also sang "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," brought 2-year-old grandson Danny Vitale onto the field with him.