Cubs stave off elimination, beat Nationals 3-1 behind Taillon and Swanson
Jameson Taillon allowed two hits over six innings, Dansby Swanson hit his 16th home run and the Cubs beat the Washington Nationals 3-1 on Friday to stave off elimination from postseason contention.
Pinch-hitter Mike Tauchman had a 2-run single in the seventh for the Cubs (79-75), who have eight games left and began the day seven games behind the New York Mets and Arizona for the last NL wild card.
“We got a big swing from Dansby early in the game and props to Mike Tauchman, as well,” Chicago manager Craig Counsell said. “He's delivering very good at-bats from a pinch-hitting role.”
Washington has lost five straight games.
Taillon (11-8) struck out four, walked two and hit a batter, improving to 3-0 with a 1.99 ERA in his last five starts. He stranded the bases loaded in the third when José Tena lined out, and Taillion retired his last 10 batters.
“It was a really good effort,” Counsell said. “It was crafty the way he pitched. ... His cutter to the backside, he had a lot of lefties in the lineup obviously, and his cutter to that side of the plate was really good.”
Tyson Miller retired Dylan Crews on a bases-loaded grounder in the seventh and gave up an eighth-inning homer to James Wood. Porter Hodge pitched a perfect ninth for his seventh save, finishing a 5-hitter.
Trevor Williams (5-1), returning from a right flexor muscle strain that had sidelined him since May 30, allowed one run and three hits in five innings.
“Everything felt real good, take away one pitch from this outing,” Williams said. “I'm just thankful that I was be out there and give the team a chance to win.”
Taillon enjoyed locking up with in a pitchers’ duel with Williams, a Pittsburgh teammate for four seasons.
“We've stayed in touch really well over the years,” Taillon said. “Cool seeing him back out there healthy. I know fans probably want offense, but for me, selfishly, that's a lot of fun.”
Swanson homered into the left-center bleachers off Williams in the first inning.
Cubs first baseman Michael Busch dove over the tarp and stretched into the protective netting to catch Teña's foul pop foul for the second out in the eighth.