Game Recap: Taillon returns as Cubs sweep doubleheader against Brewers

Matt Marton - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 2 hours ago

CHICAGO - Ernie Banks once famously said, "Let's Play Two." What better way to honor that than by playing a double-header against one of your biggest rivals as the Chicago Cubs (72-54) and Milwaukee Brewers (79-47) squared off for a Tuesday double-header at Wrigley Field. Coming off a drama-filled yet massive game one win earlier in the day, the Cubs turned to Jameson Taillon, who was returning to the mound for the first time since June, to try to do something they have only done once before against the Brewers.

That is a complete double header sweep as these teams tend to split double-headers, although the Brewers have swept the Cubs more times in the past. Given that Brandon Woodruff was on the mound for Milwaukee and coming off a game one loss, you had to think the Brewers would be hungry to split the double-header, as that is all you can ask for. Instead, it was the Cubs who had other plans as Taillon delivered another quality start while the offense did just enough in a 4-1 win.

Not knowing what to expect from Taillon in his return, things weren't looking good early as he needed 34 pitches to get out of the first. That alone put a lengthy outing in jeopardy, only to have the veteran right-hander flip a switch and settle in. At one point in the game, Taillon retired 11 straight and did so on minimal pitches as he returned to the Cubs rotation to give them six innings of one-run ball to help lift the Cubs to a 4-1 win.

Given how things started, to get through four innings would've been a miracle, but to see him get through six goes to show how good he was as the game went on. Despite retiring the first two hitters of the game, nothing came easy for Taillon in the first as the Brewers made him work for everything. Eventually, that started to catch up to him with William Contreras delivering a two-out single ahead of a Christian Yelich walk to set the Brewers offense up. Andrew Vaughn kept the party going with another RBI hit to make this a 1-0 game before Taillon was able to limit the damage.

Little did anyone know, but that was the only run of the night for the Brewers as the Cubs' pitching continued to impress. Since returning from the IL himself in June, Woodruff has been one of the best pitchers in the game, posting a 4-0 mark and an ERA hovering around 2.00 at the start of this one. With Michael Busch leading off the bottom of the first with a walk ahead of an Ian Happ single, it was the Cubs threatening to tie things up, only to let Woodruff off the hook.

Already with one run across, the Brewers continued to keep the pressure on in the second as a Danny Jansen double paired with a Sal Frelick infield single put runners on the corners, only to leave them stranded. That was the beginning of a stretch that saw Taillon retire 11 consecutive hitters at one point as the Brewers' offense was searching for answers.

After letting Woodruff off the hook in the first, the Cubs' offense once again had a chance to push a run across as Nico Hoerner led things off with a walk before stealing second base. A few pitches later, and it was Owen Caissie coming through again as his RBI single tied things up 1-1 and was his fourth RBI of the day.

While Caissie has been known for his power and overall offensive talent which he displayed on both ends of the double header, it's his speed that is often overlooked and with Busch going the other way for what looked to be a double off the bat, it was Caissie racing around the bases to score the winning run as Chicago was now in front 2-1. Busch wound up with a triple on that play as he appears to be shaking out of his lengthy slump.

Similar to how things went for Taillon in the first, Woodruff had a hard time putting hitters away as he needed 94 pitches to get through 4 1/3 innings, as the Cubs made him work from start to finish. With Happ picking up his second single in the bottom of the fifth, Pat Murphy made the move to go with Aaron Ashby out of the pen as Woodruff's day came to an end.

For the most part, Ashby did his job, giving the Brewers 3 2/3 innings of relief to help save the pen for the rest of this series. Ashby allowed four hits in his outing, with the first coming off a Carson Kelly single to put a pair of runners on base, only to have Nico Hoerner follow suit with an RBI single to push the Cubs' lead to 3-1. For Hoerner, he is now hitting .372 with runners in scoring position this season, ranking fourth in the majors.

Holding a 3-1 lead and with 11 straight retired, Taillon saw that streak come to an end in the sixth as Yelich went the other way for a one-out single that had many people feeling that would be it for the right-hander. Instead, Taillon bounced back to retire the final two hitters he faced as he gave the Cubs a phenomenal six-inning start.

When you talk about some of the exciting players on this Cubs team, Matt Shaw comes to mind and he showed a big reason for that excitment in the sixth by racing around the bases for a one out triple, and then using his speed to score on a Busch fielders choice as he beat the throw home to put the Cubs on top 4-1 and the bullpen set to take over in the seventh.

Despite an up-and-down season for the Cubs pen, Tuesday was one of those days where the Cubs pen did more than enough to get the job done as they combined to throw 6 2/3 scoreless frames in the double-header. Taylor Rogers was one of three relievers in game two to toss a scoreless inning, but it didn't come easily as both Brice Turang and Joey Ortiz picked up singles to put runners on the corners and one out.

Knowing how clutch the Brewers have been all season, this game was far from over, and with Frelick lifting one to Willi Castro in right, it looked as if the Brewers were about to pull within 4-2. That was until Castro uncorked a frozen rope from right to nail Turang at the plate as his throw gave the Cubs an inning-ending double play and killed all the potential momentum the Brewers had.

The last two innings are proof of that as Ryan Brasier and Andrew Kittredge came in to shut door, retiring all six hitters they faced to capp off the double header sweep of the Brewers 4-1. Fans have been waiting for this team to turn things around, and perhaps the rainout of game two on Monday was the reset this team needed, as this was the best day of baseball for this team in over two months. Chicago will look to not only clinch the series on Wednesday, but the season series also, as they send Colin Rea to the mound against flame-throwing Jacob Misiorowski.