Two hitters who had been slumping before the All-Star break came up big for the Cubs.
Mike Tauchman reaching over the fence for a long fly ball during the week leading up to the trade deadline was a familiar sight.
Back in 2023, when the Cubs were teetering on the buy-sell bubble, his game-saving home run robbery of the Cardinals’ Alec Burleson at Busch Stadium pushed the Cubs into adding at the trade deadline.
On Saturday, Tauchman was manning right field for the White Sox when Cubs switch-hitter Ian Happ hit a long fly ball his way. Tauchman leaped and extended his glove over the wall.
A fan wearing an “MVPCA” shirt, in a nod to Cubs star center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, reached over the railing and let the ball slip through his waving arms. It hit the railing over the yellow stripe at the top of the wall, out of Tauchman’s reach, for the first run of the game.
“It was a little scary,” Happ said after the Cubs’ 6-1 win against the White Sox. “I thought I got it a hair better than that. I’ve seen him do it before, so I’m glad he couldn’t get to that one.”
The stakes for the Cubs in the days leading up to the trade deadline Thursday aren’t as dire as they were two years ago. The path for the Cubs (61-43) is clear. Sitting in first place in the National League, albeit tied with the division-rival Brewers, they’re looking for players – and especially pitchers – to add for a playoff push.
In this crosstown series, however, the Cubs appeared to be teetering, just before an important matchup in Milwaukee this coming week.
In the Cubs’ loss Friday, pitching and defense were the issue. On Saturday, the offense went scoreless through the first six innings of the game.
They didn’t even reach base until two outs into the fourth inning, when Seiya Suzuki hit a ground ball through the right side of the infield for a single.
As the top of the order came up for the third time, to lead off the sixth inning, the White Sox turned from starter Aaron Civale to their bullpen.
Then two Cubs hitters who had been slumping before the All-Star break came through.
“Been having good at-bats, hitting the ball hard, and not getting a lot of results,” said Happ, who went 2-for-3 with a walk Saturday. “... It’s nice to stack a couple hits in a game. I don’t know when the last time I got two to fall in one game was. The at-bats, and then to get that kind of reassurance feels good.”
After Happ’s seventh-inning home run off White Sox reliever Jordan Leasure broke the scoreless tie, Matt Shaw tacked on a two-run blast. Shaw has hit in every game since the All-Star break. His homer Saturday was his fourth in that span.
“Playing free and really having a lot of fun has been really huge for me,” Shaw said. “The All-Star break was nice to get some perspective and take a step back, and then just coming back and really just enjoying playing.”
The next inning, Dansby Swanson lined a bases-loaded single into left field to drive in two runs. Then White Sox reliever Dan Altavilla walked the next two batters to push another run across.
Cubs starting pitcher Cade Horton also held up his end of the bargain, tossing 6 ⅓ scoreless innings. He held the White Sox to four hits and only let two baserunners reach scoring position.
“I didn’t feel like that was my best command with my off speed,” Horton said, “but I was able to locate fastballs and just keep them off balance. When runners got on, I was able to just focus on the next pitch and execute it.”
Cubs left-handed reliever Caleb Thielbar and right-hander Brad Keller combined for 1 ⅔ scoreless innings. Veteran Ryan Pressly gave up a solo home run to Tauchman in the ninth inning for the White Sox’ only run, and then finished the game without further damage.
A game that had begun with a concerning lack of action from the Cubs offense turned into a well-rounded victory.
