Taillon impressive in win over Marlins
David Banks - USA Today Sports

Taillon impressive in win over Marlins
by - Senior Writer - Fri Apr 19 17:44:11 GMT-04:00 2024

CHICAGO — Believe it or not, the Chicago Cubs (12-7) best starter the final two months of the season wasn't Justin Steele, but Jameson Taillon. That is why losing him for the first three weeks of the season was such a loss for this team, as he not only eats innings but has been on quite a roll.

Well, things are looking up for the Cubs as Taillon returned to the mound on Friday to make his season debut against the Miami Marlins (4-16) at Wrigley Field on Friday. Expected to be on a pitch limit for his first few appearances, Taillon was excellent as he gave the Cubs five innings of one-run ball while the offense took care of the rest in an 8-3 win.

It was the kind of start the Cubs have been waiting for from him, and it came at the perfect time, as some of the Cubs' rotation has been put into question. Matched up again, AJ Puk, the Cubs' offense came out swinging. They scored seven runs in the first three innings and never trailed in this one.

Chicago didn't waste any time getting the scoring started as Nico Hoerner led things off with a double, with Patrick Wisdom adding a walk to put two on and no outs. Cody Bellinger followed that up with an RBI single to put the Cubs in front as Puk searched for answers.

Puk was close to finishing the inning without further damage, only to have Dansby Swanson add an RBI double to extend the Cubs lead to 2-0.

Once the second inning rolled around, it was time for the Cubs offense to catch fire, as most of their damage came in the second and third innings. That all started with a one-out hit by pitch to Nick Madrigal before Hoerner made things 3-0 with an RBI double.

Things continued to worsen for the Marlins in the third inning as Bellinger led off the inning with another single before a pair of walks loaded the bases with no outs.

That set the tone for Garrett Cooper, whose RBI single made things 4-0, and an RBI forceout pushed the lead to 5-0. Miguel Amaya closed out what was a four-run third inning for the Cubs, as his RBI double gave the Cubs a 7-0 lead and saw Puk get chased from the game. It took the Marlins four innings to break through as the Bryan De La Cruz homer closed the gap to 7-1 in the fourth.

The homer was the lone blemish on Taillon's line for the day, as he would go one more inning before turning things over to Keegan Thompson and the pen. Despite a comfortable lead, the Cubs offense kept the pressure on in the bottom half of the fifth as they continued to deliver when needed.

Swanson started things with a leadoff single while the Ian Happ walk put a pair on with no outs. Two batters later saw Mike Tauchman come through with another RBI hit as the Cubs final run of the game came across to score and extended the Cubs lead to 8-1. It has been well-documented all season that the Cubs bullpen has been an issue, but if Thompson can continue to pitch the way he has in his three outings, help is on the way.

One of the more dominating relievers in 2022, Thompson completely lost it in 2023, to the point where many felt his career with the Cubs was over. That was far from the truth, as Thompson has pitched his way back onto the Cubs roster and is starting to get back to his old self. Thompson has gone three outings this season without allowing a run, and that continued Friday as he struck out four and walked one in two shutout innings of work.

Should he get back his old form, Thompson has the potential to be a real weapon and could be the X-Factor the Cubs have been looking for the past two seasons. Once Thompson saw his day end, Craig Counsell went to Colten Brewer, who was making his season debut for the Cubs. The long-time veteran signed a minor league with the Cubs this spring and was one of the final cuts heading into the season.

He then posted some impressive numbers in the early part of the season as he will be taking over for Luke Little, who has been optioned to AAA. Brewer retired the Marlins in order in the eighth before running into a bit of trouble in the ninth. That all started with Jazz Chisholm leading things off with a single before being erased on a fielder's choice.

Brewer came within one out of tossing a scoreless frame only to have Otto Lopez and Nick Gordon connect for a pair of singles. The Gordan single capped off the scoring as Miami pulled within 8-3 before Brewer locked things down for good.

It was nice to see the Cubs offense return to normal as they picked up 10 hits with four players having multi-hit games. Hoerner, Bellinger, Swanson, and Tauchman had those multi-hit games, with Amaya and Cooper grabbing the remaining hits.

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