Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field was better than Saturday in every single way.
First, the weather was more than 30 degrees warmer — 80 at game time, a nice day to have in mid-April.
And the Cubs came from behind with good relief work and some excellent baserunning, tying the game in the eighth. Then Carson Kelly’s single walked it off in the ninth for a 7-6 win over the Pirates.
80-degree temps in April generally come with strong winds blowing out at Wrigley and this day was no exception. Six miles
per hour, as reported in the boxscore? I think not, as howling winds made the flags look like this pre-game (Bluesky link):
It got so windy that they took the team flags down from the board. Jameson Taillon got taken deep by Oneil Cruz on the third pitch of the game. That one definitely had some help from the wind.
Then in the second, Taillon loaded the bases with two out, one of those outs thanks to a ball-four call that Kelly got overturned [VIDEO].
After that, Taillon threw ball one to Brandon Lowe and then laid one right down the middle of the plate that Lowe did not miss. It still had some help from the wind, but Lowe had a grand slam and the Pirates led 5-0. More on the slam from BCB’s JohnW53:
The grand slam off Taillon was the fifth he has served up among 174 career homers allowed.
It was the first at home. The others were at Cincinnati, in 2018, while with the Pirates, then as a Cub in 2023 at Philadelphia and Detroit, and on June 28, 2024, at Milwaukee.
The slam today was the 40th homer off him since then.
Credit to Taillon: He settled down after that, at one point retiring eight straight Pirates. That streak was ended by Lowe’s second homer of the game in the fifth — and that one had no help from the wind at all.
Meanwhile, the Cubs were inching their way back into the game. They had two solo homers in the third. First, Dansby Swanson [VIDEO].
Two outs later, Moisés Ballesteros [VIDEO].
At that point it was 5-2 and, well, early enough that a comeback was certainly possible. The Cubs got a one-out double from Kelly in the fourth, but he was stranded. Lowe’s second long ball made it 6-2 in the top of the fifth, but the Cubs got that run back in the bottom of the inning. Nico Hoerner led off with a single and went to third on a single by Ballesterois.
Alex Bregman scored Hoerner with this sac fly [VIDEO].
So now it’s 6-3, and, well, Cubs pitching is holding the Pirates down. Again, props to Taillon for sticking it out through the sixth and striking out 10. Here are the 10 K’s [VIDEO].
Here’s more on Taillon’s afternoon [VIDEO].
And more on Taillon from John:
Jameson Taillon is the first Cubs starter since 1901 to pitch exactly 6.0 innings, give up three home runs and strike out 10.
Kerry Wood went 6.0 with three homers and eight strikeouts at Toronto on June 13, 2003.
Yu Darvish went 6.0 with three homers and nine strikeouts at Cincinnati on Aug. 9, 2019.
Taillon gave up six runs on six hits and two walks; Wood, five runs on seven hits and two walks; and Darvish, four runs on four hits and no walks.
Riley Martin threw a scoreless seventh and was replaced after he allowed a one-out single in the eighth. I like what I’ve seen from Martin so far — he doesn’t mess around, goes right after hitters and has a good pitch mix. Always good to have another useful left-hander in the pen.
Meanwhile, the Cubs chipped away in the bottom of the seventh, thanks to some heads-up baserunning. Swanson led off with a walk. One out later, he took third on a double by Nico. Miguel Amaya, batting for Ballesteros, walked to load the bases.
That is just outstanding baseball sense from Swanson. Seeing that Lowe fell over after catching Bregman’s popup, he broke for the plate. The Pirates, not expecting that, didn’t come close to throwing him out and it’s now 6-4. You don’t see too many sacrifice flies to the second baseman. All credit to Dansby for making that happen.
Ethan Roberts relieved Martin in the eighth, hit the first batter he faced, but then set down two Pirates in a row to end the inning.
Then the Cubs tied the game with even more heads-up baserunning. Seiya Suzuki led off the eighth with a walk. Kelly and Pete Crow-Armstrong struck out, but Swanson also walked.
Michael Busch, given a day off from starting as he’s been in a horrific slump, batted for Matt Shaw, and Swanson did it again [VIDEO].
Busch’s single scored Suzuki easily, but when Bryan Reynolds’ throw to second got away, Swanson picked right up on that and scored the second run of the inning, tying the game. Can’t say enough about how aware Swanson is and how smart he is. That’s two runs basically stolen in this game by Swanson because he was heads-up on the basepaths. Great stuff.
Daniel Palencia retired the Pirates scoreless in the ninth, despite a two-out walk to Cruz, who wore the Cubs out all weekend. Cruz stole second and took third on a passed ball, but Palencia struck out Lowe on a 99 mile per hour fastball to set up the dramatic finish to this game.
Michael Conforto batted for Amaya and doubled. Scott Kingery ran for him. Bregman hit a ball to short and beat Konnor Griffin’s throw, putting runners on first and second with nobody out. Ian Happ hit into a force play, with Kingery taking third. Suzuki walked to load the bases.
Like I said — great weather, solid relief pitching, timely hitting and outstanding baserunning gave the Cubs this win, salvaging the final game of this series.
And one more note from John:
According to my research, this is the Cubs’ 998th regular-season walk-off win since 1876, first year of the National League.
It is their 900th of the Modern Era, which began in 1901.
It is their 795th at Wrigley Field, their home since 1916.
I still am not worried about this team, though there are some things that need shoring up. Consider: The Nationals just finished a sweep of the Brewers — in Milwaukee. There have been some very odd results early in this season, good teams like the Blue Jays, Mariners and Phillies have struggled, as have the Cubs. It is still VERY early.
Speaking of the Phillies, the Cubs travel to Philadelphia for a one-series, three-game road trip beginning Monday evening. Javier Assad will start the series opener for the Cubs and Cristopher Sánchez goes for the Phillies. Game time Monday is 5:40 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.
