City Series: 3 takeaways from the Cubs’ series win, including Holmes’ value — and walk-off magic

On a day of little offensive production for the Chicago Cubs, every base runner was valuable against the White Sox.

So when center fielder Tyrone Taylor made the calculation, following a leadoff double, to tag up on a fly ball to right fielder Braden Montgomery in the sixth inning, he needed to make sure the aggressive move paid off. Instead, with the Cubs facing a one-run deficit, Taylor misread Pete Crow-Armstrong’s liner to Montgomery.

Taylor’s missteps toward third while the ball was in flight delayed him getting back to second for the tag up. He was easily thrown out at third on Montgomery’s 95.1 mph dart.

“It’s just a mental mistake,” Taylor said. “Kids watching this: No outs when you’re on second base, your job is to get to third on a fly ball and tag up. So, don’t do what I did. … The aggression was right but just late to get back to tag.”

That was the Cubs’ only runner in scoring position until a defensive indifference allowed Seiya Suzuki to advance to second after a two-out walk in the ninth. They ultimately managed just two hits — both from Cubs No. 9 hitter Taylor — off the Sox’s Sean Newcomb, José Urquidy and Grant Taylor in the 3-0 loss at Wrigley Field as their attempt to complete the sweep fell short.

The Cubs (74-54) failed to homer Wednesday for only the third time in their last 19 games. As the Cubs head into Thursday’s off day before a West Coast trip to Seattle and Phoenix, there are three takeaways from their series win over the White Sox.

1. Clay Holmes showing why the Cubs acquired him.

As a sinkerballer, right-hander Clay Holmes has been taking advantage of the Cubs’ elite defense behind him, particularly in the infield.

He racked up 12 groundball outs, including two double plays, compared to just one flyout. Holmes kept third baseman Alex Bregman especially busy. Bregman tallied six assists while Holmes was on the mound, leading the pitcher to call his performance “special.”

“I think with this defense, it always gives you a chance, and a lot of great plays out there,” Holmes said. “I have zero ounce of fear of getting the ball on the ground. I know that if I do that time and time again, a lot of good things are going to happen behind me. And even with the guys on, sinkerballers like myself, sometimes it’s easy to feel like you have to shy away from it with runners on, run on first, run on second. But even with runners on, there’s a lot of confidence that I can trust the contact that I get and the outs are going to be made. We saw it today.”

Holmes delivered another great start Wednesday, holding the White Sox to one run in 5⅓ innings. In his last two starts, Holmes has surrendered only one run over 12 innings.

“He’s been disgusting all season, man, and he’s been disgusting here,” said Taylor, who played with Holmes on the Mets. “It’s been fun to play defense behind him and fun to watch him do his thing. He’s a great pitcher and looking forward to more starts from him like that.”

2. Cubs keep channeling the walk-off magic.

The Cubs don’t seem fazed by needing to rally late at home.

Their walk-off victories Monday and Tuesday against the White Sox moved the Cubs into their major league-leading 13 walk-off wins this year, their most in a season since 2015 (also 13). They’ve recorded more walk-offs just once in franchise history, when the Cubs finished with 14 in 1930, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

“I feel like our pitching staff’s done a great job of giving us the opportunity to come through in those situations, and then offensively, we feel like we’re never out of it, and I think how this offense was kind of built is just grinder at-bat after grinder at-bat, and guys that can hit the ball from line to line, work counts, get on base,” Bregman said. “I feel like guys are mature in their approach to not try and do too much in those spots.”

The two walk-offs also represented the first time the Cubs walked off the White Sox in consecutive games. Their six wins this season when trailing after eight innings tie the Cubs with the Cincinnati Reds for the most in the majors, while their 19-13 (.594) mark in one-run games is fourth best.

3. Javier Assad continues to deliver in any role.

Javier Assad certainly wasn’t expecting to be thrown into the tough situation Tuesday night.

When right-hander Kevin Gausman departed mid-inning in the fifth because of cramping in his left hand, Assad was summoned from the bullpen to take over and warm up on the mound. He gave the Cubs three shutout innings and allowed just two Sox hitters to reach base. Assad’s performance kept the Cubs in the game, which ultimately ended on Bregman’s walk-off single in the ninth.

“Whether it be starting, and then since he’s moved to the bullpen, he’s just pitched really well,” manager Craig Counsell said. “He’s gotten outs in important spots. He’s covered us with length. He’s made important starts against tough lineups. So, he’s pitched extremely well.”

Most of the damage Assad has allowed this year came from two outings in April when he gave up nine runs in an April 13 start against the Philadelphia Phillies and six runs during a three-inning relief appearance April 25 at Dodger Stadium. Aside from those games, Assad has posted a 2.00 ERA in 76⅓ innings. The Cubs are 18-4 in games when Assad pitches.

“He’s been a big part of piecing it together in a good way,” Counsell said. “This is how you put together good teams. It’s not always going to be this cookie-cutter ‘this is how it’s going to be in terms of roles,’ and I think you have to prepare for it not to be that way, and you have to understand that it’s not going to be that way.”