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Going 10 days between two starts required some adjustment to Jameson Taillon’s typical routine thanks to the All-Star break.
Taillon threw a simulated game Friday to Patrick Wisdom and Miles Mastrobuoni, and he felt it paid off in multiple ways Tuesday against the Washington Nationals.
“I might have locked them in a little bit, they’ve been hot ever since,” Taillon said smiling.
Wisdom slugged a go-ahead solo home run onto Waveland Avenue in the seventh inning to spark a comeback 17-3 victory. Wisdom’s leadoff homer, his third in four games after the All-Star break, was part of a six-run seventh, which the Cubs followed with an eight-run eighth to emphatically put the game away.
“I think it gives us confidence, even though I wouldn’t say we’re lacking confidence, but just kind of showing that we’re doing the right things as a group,” Wisdom said. “This group is a lot of fun to be a part of and so it’s just reaffirming a lot of those things just to have a game like that.”
The Cubs (44-50) scored six-plus runs in an inning twice in the same game for the first time since June 17, 2015, at Cleveland. It also marks the first time they’ve done that in back-to-back innings since May 5, 2001, against the Dodgers.
Seven of the Cubs’ nine starters recorded a multi-hit game, led by Seiya Suzuki (four hits and three RBIs) and Mastrobuoni (career-high three-hit game), who was a late add following Christopher Morel (neck stiffness) getting scratched from the lineup. Suzuki’s homer in the sixth trimmed Washington’s lead to one run. Cody Bellinger tied it two batters later on his single and a throwing error from Nationals second baseman Luis Garcia.
“Up and down the lineup, everybody contributed,” manager David Ross said. “These guys have been putting in a lot of work and grinding a little bit lately. It’s nice for that to break open and add on.”
Taillon didn’t let the game get away from him after the Nationals took a 3-0 lead after two innings. He kept an aggressive lineup in check the rest of his outing, going 5 2/3 innings and gave the Cubs offense a chance to swing their way back into the game.
“I knew going into it I felt good in my warmups so after (those three runs) happened, it was kind of just weather the storm,” Taillon said. “Keep the team in the game, make pitches. … Overall the plan and the things we’ve been working on I think has been carrying over. The pitch shapes on my four-seam were good. That’s getting better.”
The Cubs must build on an all-around good win and carry it into Wednesday’s series finale. Stacking wins is a must at this point, something that has eluded the Cubs too often this year.
After their strong start, culminating in a three-game sweep of the A’s in Oakland on April 19, the Cubs have won more than two games in a row only twice: a five-game winning streak June 13-17 at home versus the Pirates and Orioles and a four-game winning streak June 19-24 with their road sweep of the Pirates and taking the series opener against the Cardinals in London. Those two stretches were part of the Cubs winning nine of 10 games to move them one game under .500 and within three games back of first place in the division.
How, or if, the Cubs solve their consistency issues on a game-to-game basis over the next 13 days will play a big role in the direction president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer takes at the trade deadline.
“It seems like that’s been the question all year, like, we’ve been hot then cold and just a little too streaky, which is weird because we have a lot of really veteran super professional guys in there,” Taillon said. “So the streakiness is a bit weird. But it’s hard to tie yourself to the results. We all try to show up and go about our day and work hard and go about your process. But it comes down to the results. You want to put the wins up.
“Yeah, the streakiness has definitely been a little weird, I obviously haven’t helped with any of that. Everyone’s showing up, putting in the work and trying to stop that.”
For one game, at least, Ross’ belief and trust that his slumping key hitters — Hoerner, Suzuki and Happ — would come through in the top three spots of the order paid off. Ross cited his own experience in the confidence players want to feel from their manager, even through tough stretches like that trio is currently enduring in a pivotal stretch.
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“I think it’s easy from the outside to look at what guys are struggling with in certain moments, whether it’s 10 days to two weeks, a season’s a season for a reason,” Ross said before Tuesday’s win. “You’re going to have good months, you’re going to have bad months, you’re going to have a good week stretch where you hit .400, you’re going to have a week stretch where you hit .100.
“So, riding through that and showing confidence in the process of what guys are working on and talking through those things, they’re not going to figure it out sitting on the bench.”
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Ross acknowledged that if he could give Hoerner a day off right now he would, but Dansby Swanson (bruised left heel) is still on the injured list, complicating that decision. Hoerner, Suzuki and Happ entered Tuesday hitting a combined .214 with a .290 on-base percentage and .628 OPS in the Cubs’ last 28 games.
“Part of being a major leaguer is grinding through,” Ross said. “It’s easy to show up every day and try to compete when you feel good, your body feels good, your swing feels good, you’re in a good mental head space — it’s really easy to play this game.
“Going through struggles makes you better in the long run. … If I feel like there’s a moment to give them an opportunity to take a breather and sit on the bench and get perspective then I’ll do that just like I did with Trey Mancini early on, I did to Christopher Morel early on. Sometimes a little bit of a break helps.”
Happ came out of the game after the bottom of the seventh, and Ross did not have an update postgame but said he would provide one Wednesday.
“Everybody’s got a little something going on, I would say to that extent,” Ross said. “There was a little MASH unit in there today. There’s a lot going on.”
