Tauchman homers twice, Cubs breeze past Astros
A wind-aided batting practice led to a career-night for Cubs outfielder Mike Tauchman.
He homered twice for the second time in his big-league career to help pitcher Jordan Wicks roll to a 7-2 victory over the Houston Astros on Tuesday at Wrigley Field.
“It was a good day to hit. You don't get many of those in April,” Tauchman said. “It was just a fun day at BP today. The wind was blowing straight out like 20 miles an hour.
“When it's a day like that, you get some up in the air and cut some loose, it feels good. I think a lot of guys were enjoying BP today. (Alexander) Canario was hitting balls to like the fire station off the front toss. I wish I could do that.”
Cody Bellinger hit the other Cubs home run, a 428-foot blast deep into the right-field bleachers. Later in the game, Bellinger collided with the brick wall in center field trying to catch a deep drive by Yanier Diaz, which hit Bellinger's glove, then bounced off the wall for an RBI double. He could be seen grimacing and stretching in the dugout before exiting the game after six innings.
“Honestly, I didn't feel much at first,” Bellinger said after the game. “As the innings went on, it started to get a little more uncomfortable. Nothing serious. It's a very dull pain, even now, which is a good sign.”
Bellinger and manager Craig Counsell both said X-rays were negative, so this doesn't appear to be something that will keep him out of the lineup for long. But once again, Tauchman could find himself as the Cubs' super sub, just as he was last year.
“I try to make my self available for 162-plus,” the Palatine native said. “Hopefully (Bellinger) is OK. I show up at the park every day ready to go. Good teams have depth and good teams have guys step up and that's what we intend to do.”
Tauchman's first 2-homer game happened at Camden Yards in Baltimore on Aug. 5, 2019 when he played for the Yankees.
“I guess those were both to the opposite field too,” Tauchman said. “But they probably wouldn't be homers anymore. The fence is like 50 feet further back now.”
Before the contest, Counsell talked about pushing the Cubs' starting pitchers toward longer outings, since this was the start of 16 consecutive games without a day off. Wicks (1-2) finished 6-plus innings three times last year, but hadn't gotten through 5 innings this season until Tuesday.
Cubs starting pitchers have now completed 6 innings five times in 23 games.
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