Taillon dominates as Cubs blowout Mets |
CHICAGO — It's been a while since the Chicago Cubs (37-40) could say they've had a blowout game, two months to be exact, but that is exactly what happened at Wrigley Field against the New York Mets (36-39) on Saturday. Oddly enough, it came on the heels of getting blown out by the Mets one day earlier, 11-1, so to see the Cubs return the favor in such a dominating fashion had to feel good.
All it took was a five-run first for the Cubs to get things rolling, and Jameson Taillon took care of the rest as the Cubs evened up their series with the Mets 8-1. This was about as good as Taillon has looked in his two seasons with the Cubs, as the right-hander scattered six hits across seven innings. He allowed only one run coming on a solo shot from Francisco Alvarez and struck out 10 as this was his fourth career double-digit strikeout game. 10K kinda day for @JTaillon50 🔥#YouHaveToSeeIt pic.twitter.com/3EvyGoi4lE It was the first time he reached double-digit strikeouts as a member of the Cubs, and he finished just one off his career high, improving to 4-3 with a 2.90 ERA. “He pitched really well,” Counsell said after the game. “Definitely got more swing-and-miss than we've seen in the last couple of starts. But I thought he was just locked in. I thought Tomás did a really nice job with him and he just controlled counts really, really well.” Although Taillon was brilliant, the Cubs offense made things very easy for him. They jumped on Tylor Megill (2-4) in a massive way. A five-run first inning set the tone, with the Cubs leading from start to finish. With Nico Hoerner leading the bottom of the first off with a walk, he was erased from the bases on a fielder's choice before a Cody Bellinger walk put a pair on with one out. That was when things went south for the Mets as Seiya Suzuki opened the scoring with an RBI single before an Ian Happ grounder doubled their lead to 2-0. Following that grounder, the Cubs responded with three two-out hits to build a massive rally as Christopher Morel delivered an RBI single to make things 3-0 before coming in to score on the Dansby Swanson double. Pete Crow-Armstrong closed out the massive first with an RBI triple as the Cubs batted around in the first to take a 5-0 lead. Had they not scored the rest of the way, those five runs would have been all the Cubs would have needed as Taillon was locked in from the start, allowing just one above the minimum through three. His effort alone allowed the offense to relax as they did their best to return the favor, with Morel connecting for his second hit in as many at-bats in the third, as he launched his 14th homer of the season 446 feet to push the lead to 6-1. 446ft shot to the bleachers for Memo ☄ pic.twitter.com/cwbxvMZ7Wn His homer was the farthest homer by a Cubs player this season, as the power has been lacking for the better part of two months. For the most part, Taillon was able to handle the Mets, but once the fourth inning rolled around, it did look like that was about to change as consecutive singles from Brandon Nimmo and JD Martinez put a pair of runners on with no outs. Taillon didn't let that bother him at all as he recovered to retire the next three he faced to keep the shutout intact. One inning later, Taillon saw his shutout bid end as Alvarez turned on a 91 MPH cutter and launched it into left-center for his second homer in as many days to extend to make things 6-1. That would be the only run of the night for the Mets, who entered the game with the fifth-best offense in the National League and the best offense in the MLB for the month of June. With their offense quieting down after a fast start and knowing their bullpen has had its struggles any time you can add runs late in a game, it does feel refreshing. Leave it to the kid PCA for that, as he delivered a one-out single in the bottom of the sixth before using his speed to score on the Tomas Nido double to push the lead to 7-1. Chicago would add another run off Adrian Houser later in the inning, with Michael Busch extending the inning with a walk before Bellinger reached on an infield single. Pete Alonso initially made a diving stop on that infield hit, but a poor throw to Houser trying to cover first resulted in an error, allowing for the Cubs final run to score. Following a scoreless seventh to end his outing, the Cubs went to the bullpen, where Colten Brewer was called on to pitch the eighth, only to deliver a perfect inning with two strikeouts. He turned things over to Hector Neris in the ninth as the veteran righty was looking to get back on track in his first outing since Monday. Despite striking out two in his outing, Neris was once again a tough watch as he served up a two-out double to Tyrone Taylor before walking Alvarez as the Mets threatened to pull closer. Neris didn't let that happen as he recorded his second strikeout to end the game and closed out the Cubs 8-1 win. Hey Chicago, what do you say? pic.twitter.com/klg1eTSMuY The pitching has been solid for the Cubs all season, and with no walks and 14 strikeouts in this one, their success continued. Suzuki, Morel, and PCA led the offense with two hits, and Morel added two RBIs. The Cubs will not only go for the series win tomorrow night, but the season series win as they turn to Javier Assad, who will face Luis Severino on Sunday Night Baseball. [W]rigleyville. 😎 We've got dueling snakes in Chicago!
Taillon: 7 IP, 1 ER, 0 BB, 10 K
Morel: 2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
Suzuki & Crow-Armstrong: 2-for-4, RBI, R pic.twitter.com/eQakMRynTs
📺: FS1 pic.twitter.com/IMWTr0lBJy
