Taillon's gem leads Cubs to win over Nationals |
CHICAGO - Runs were at a premium at Wrigley Field on Friday as the Chicago Cubs (79-75) and Washington Nationals (68-86) continued their series. Already with a perfect 4-0 mark against the Nationals, the Cubs have already taken the season series, but they would like to add a few more wins to guarantee they finish with a winning record.
Led by another strong Jameson Taillon outing and a pair of timely hits, the Cubs improved to 5-0 against the Nationals as they took care of business 3-1. Taillon (11-8) has had an outstanding season this year and has posted a 1.08 ERA across his last three starts, all of which were quality starts. Going further than that, Taillon entered the game with a 2.66 ERA at home as the right-hander loves to pitch in his home park. This was one of those classic games where Taillon not only pitches to contact but also does so in a way that limits the damage. He walked two and struck out four across six scoreless innings and will take a 3.41 ERA into the season's final week. Opposing him was a familiar face as former Cub Trevor Williams took the mound for the Nationals. Not known as an effective pitcher, Williams has been dominant at times this season, as indicated by his sub 2.5 ERA, as he struck out seven across his five strong innings. Williams surrendered just one run in his outing, which came on a Dansby Swanson homer in the first inning, as the Cubs took a quick 1-0 lead. That was the only run of the day for quite some time, as both starting pitchers were on top of their game. Anytime you give your starter the lead in the first inning, it makes things much easier as a pitcher, as Taillon was locked in. Both of the hits Taillon allowed came in the second and third innings, with Joey Gallo and Darren Baker grabbing those hits with singles. Dylan Crews also worked a third-inning walk to give the Nationals their best scoring chance, but Taillon did his job to escape the inning without damage. That was the start of a great run to finish his start as Taillon settled in to retire the final 10 hitters he faced before handing things off to Nate Pearson and the rest of the pen. The same could be said about Williams after he allowed the first-inning homer, as the Nationals right-hander allowed just two base runners the rest of his outing before handing things off to the pen. When you look back at when the Cubs swept the Nationals in Washington, the bullpen was a significant factor as the Cubs bullpen has been one of the game's best for three months while the Nationals pen hasn't. You saw some of that on Thursday with the Cubs bringing home the winning runs in the seventh, but with Keibert Ruiz and Drew Millas picking up a pair of singles in the seventh, Pearson was on the ropes. Things got even trickier for the right-hander as a walk loaded the bases to set the Nationals offense up to take the lead, only to have Tyson Miller come in and extinguish the situation. Still holding a 1-0 lead in the seventh, Eduardo Salazar came in to pitch as a two-out Nico Hoerner walk extended the inning and started a mini-rally by the Cubs. That was followed by a Pete Crow-Armstrong single before a wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position. In desperate need of a big hit, Mike Tauchman entered the game as a pinch hitter, which has been his primary role of late. Tauchman is one of those players you can count on in clutch situations, and this was one of those moments, as he rolled one through the hole at first to push the Cubs' lead to 3-0. Mike Tauchman with a pinch-hit, 2-run single! pic.twitter.com/fwWueJs5Wi His hit would go down as the game-winner as James Wood opened the eighth with a massive homer off of Miller to pull the Nationals within 3-1. That was all the offense they could muster as Miller finished off the eighth before turning things over to Porter Hodge in the ninth, who struck out two of the three batters he faced to secure his seventh save in the Cubs 3-1 win. Porter Hodge goes 1-2-3 to pick up his 7th save! pic.twitter.com/Z2M7Vbno5m The Cubs offense was held to just six hits in the game, three of which came after the sixth inning. Christian Bethancourt led the offense with two hits as four other players had one hit in the win. The Cubs will look to make it three for three on Saturday as they turn to Kyle Hendricks for what could be the final start of his Cubs career. "Props to Mike Tauchman." "We’re the Chicago Cubs. We should strive be a 90-win — at least — organization." - Jameson Taillon pic.twitter.com/aPr6S3PBVB "We're pretty far back in the division."
Tauchman is hitting .316 as a pinch-hitter this season! pic.twitter.com/Xj8nRqwMV0
Jameson Taillon on where the Cubs now versus where they want to be. pic.twitter.com/YTMJziSbAU
