Game Recap: Taillon rocked as Cubs drop third straight

Brad Penner - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - 4 hours ago

QUEENS - It took more than a month into the 2025 MLB season, but the Chicago Cubs (22-17) have lost three straight games for the first time and are starting to fall into old habits. In case you forgot, it was at this time last year when the offense went into a near two-month hibernation period, and given how well the offense has played to start the year, a regression was expected.

Facing off against one of the best teams in the National League, the New York Mets (25-14), this isn't a great series for the Cubs offense to get back on track, as the Mets have the best pitching staff in baseball. You saw some of that at Citi Field on Friday as Clay Holmes came out firing, allowing one run in six innings while the Mets' offense took care of the rest in a 7-2 victory.

This was one of those days where the long ball was an issue for Jameson Taillon as the Cubs right-hander got touched up for four homers, all coming off left-handed batters. Those homers accounted for four of the six runs charged to Taillon as he lasted just four innings, needing 100 pitches to get through those innings.

You got a sense of how things would go right from the jump as Francisco Lindor led the bottom of the first off with a solo blast as the Mets took the lead for good 1-0. Leadoff homers were the theme of the game early on for New York as they doubled their lead with a Brett Baty homer to start the bottom half of the second, with Jeff McNeil following suit two batters later to push the Mets' lead to 3-0.

Had New York gone the rest of the way without scoring a run, it would've been enough to win, as the McNeil homer goes down as the game-winning hit in the game. It took the Cubs three innings to grab their first hit of the game with Nico Hoerner delivering a single, while a Nicky Lopez walk set the Cubs offense up in a good spot, only to come away empty.

Already with three runs across, the Mets kept the pressure on Taillon and the Cubs in the third as a one-out walk to Brandon Nimmo put another runner on base before the Francisco Alvarez single had the Mets in business. With Baty keeping the line moving with another single to load the bases, it was Taillon who got the ground ball he was looking for to end the inning, only to have Luisangel Acuna force an errant throw from Dansby Swanson and allow for two more runs to score.

Not only is it hard to beat the Mets when you are gifting them runs, but through eight innings, the Cubs' offense was held to three hits, which also makes things difficult.

One of those two hits produced the Cubs' first run of the game as Kyle Tucker took Holmes deep to lead off the fourth and pulled the Cubs within 5-1. Michael Busch added a double later in the inning to keep the inning alive, but he wound up being stranded on the bases to keep things 5-1.

New York continued to rely on the long ball in their half of the fourth, with Juan Soto connecting for the Mets' fourth homer in as many innings as possible to extend the New York lead to 6-1. That homer was followed by a Pete Alonso double, only to have Taillon finish off the fourth without further damage.

In what became a bullpen game for the Cubs from the fifth inning on, Gavin Hollowell, Ryan Pressly, and Tom Cosgrove pitched well as they combined to allow just one run the rest of the way. That run came in the bottom of the eighth when Soto delivered an RBI single off Cosgrove to bring home Lindor.

Trailing by six and down to their final at-bats, the Cubs wouldn't go away quietly as Busch took Jose Butto deep to begin the ninth and had the Cubs within 7-2. Two batters later, Pete Crow-Armstrong came through with the Cubs' fifth and final hit as Butto would bounce back to retire the next two hitters and secure the 7-2 win for the Mets.

Busch was responsible for two of the Cubs' five hits in the loss as he is looking to bounce out of a lengthy slump. Chicago had several opportunities to make things interesting late, including a golden opportunity in the eighth as Seiya Suzuki came within 10 feet of making things a 7-4 game. All eyes will be on the Cubs on Saturday as they are expected to start their top pitching prospect, Cade Horton, who will be making his MLB debut.