Jameson Taillon won his third consecutive game and Ian Happ hit his 10th home run of the year as the red-hot Chicago Cubs beat their arch-rival St. Louis Cardinals for the sixth time in nine days, by a score of 5-1.
It was the eighth straight win for the Cubs, who are the hottest team in the majors, with no other team having won more than three in a row going into Sunday’s action.
Taillon, who signed a four-year, $68 million contract prior to this season, has struggled most of the year. However, he’s been key to Chicago’s turnaround in recent weeks, having improved to 5-6, with the Cubs winning each of his last four starts.
He’s dropped his ERA 1.47 points during that time, while the Cubs have gone 11-4 since the All-Star break to move to within three games of the final wild card spot and three and a half out of the lead in the NL Central.
“Right now, it does feel like everyone’s contributing. Starters keeping us in the game, bullpen locking it down, defense playing great. (The) lineup seems really long right now. I wouldn’t want to face us,” Taillon said.