For the first time in nearly seven weeks, Jameson Taillon took the mound feeling good about finally getting another opportunity to help the Chicago Cubs.
Taillon could only watch since going on the injured list June 8 because of a left hamstring strain as the injuries to the rotation piled up. He wanted to use that recovery time to work on his mechanics and evaluate his pitch sequencing in an effort to eliminate the home runs that too often have derailed his starts this season.
Within the first five batters in his return Monday against the Detroit Tigers, those long-ball problems again emerged. The Tigers put up a four-spot on Taillon with Riley Greene’s three-run homer, followed by Dillon Dingler’s solo shot, and they went on to win 8-6 in 10 innings.
Taillon settled in to retire 12 of the next 13 batters after the back-to-back homers, and the Cubs offense bailed him out with three home runs, including Ian Happ’s game-tying, two-run homer in the eighth.
But the Cubs wasted a chance for a walk-off win in the bottom of the ninth. Seiya Suzuki struck out with runners on second and third against Tigers closer Kenley Jansen. Alex Bregman, with the bases loaded and ahead 3-0 in the count, struck out on a foul tip off a full-count cutter that would have been ball four to bring in the winning run.
Instead, Jansen forced extra innings with the well-placed pitch, and the Tigers’ three runs in the 10th held up.
“I mean, I’m glad I could settle down and at least put us in a position to cover some innings and stay in the game,” Taillon said. “But going down four in the first obviously isn’t ideal. … I don’t think it’s just rust. It’d be nice to just chalk it up to that, but homers obviously have been a problem this year.”
The Tigers stacked their lineup with six left-handed hitters against Taillon, who started throwing more changeups than usual to try to combat Detroit’s approach. He said of that adjustment, “Figuring that out earlier would be nice.”
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The home runs, though, were killers. Taillon has surrendered multiple homers in seven of his 14 starts this year, while his 22 home runs allowed are tied for fourth-most in the majors despite his last start coming June 7. He’s already only two homers shy of matching last year’s total in 56 1/3 fewer innings.
Taillon was going to get only 70 to 75 pitches Monday, “which honestly makes the homers even more frustrating because I knew I wasn’t going to go six or seven innings, so you’re not saving anything,” he said. “Ideally, you go deep into games and keep runs off the board, and if you’re not doing one, hopefully you’re doing the other — at least going deep if you’re giving up runs, or if you’re not going deep, you’re not giving up runs.
“So I’ll just keep working behind the scenes and try to figure out the homer thing because it feels like that’s the snake bite for me. I’m not giving up a ton of hits in a row. It’s just the untimely homers. So we’ll keep working to figure it out and clean that up, and hopefully I can impact this team down the stretch.”
The Cubs (56-44) cut into the Tigers lead with their own back-to-back homers in the third from Suzuki (two-run) and Michael Busch (solo) against starter Jack Flaherty to make it a one-run game.
A rare Nico Hoerner fielding error on a would-be double-play ball in the 10th helped the Tigers put three across the plate. The Cubs got one run back in the bottom half on Pedro Ramírez’s forceout. Carson Kelly grounded out with runners on the corners to end the game.
“It was a good baseball game,” manager Craig Counsell said. “I mean, we were on the losing end of that one, unfortunately. We’ve won a bunch of those at home this year. … You respect it because (Jansen), the low heartbeat’s not going to get him fired up, and he made some good pitches when it counted.”
Cubs make pitching roster moves
For a Cubs rotation that has been decimated by injuries over the last few weeks, the pitching staff’s slow journey to health took a step forward Monday with the return of Taillon.
The Cubs activated Taillon from the injured list ahead of his outing. They also added right-hander Aaron Civale to the roster before Monday’s series opener after acquiring him from the Athletics, who had designated him for assignment. Civale posted a 2.08 ERA in five games (13 innings) for the Cubs last season.
In corresponding moves, left-hander Drew Pomeranz was designated for assignment and right-hander Phil Maton went on the 15-day IL with right knee tendinitis.
Losing Maton, 33, for the third time this season with the same recurring ailment is a blow for a bullpen that, despite his struggles, could use a veteran in the mix. Maton and the Cubs were optimistic that his previous IL stint and the added days off of the All-Star break would be the kind of three-week break his knee needed to hold up for the rest of the season without issues.
However, Maton again experienced symptoms in his right knee during his one-inning appearance Sunday, prompting him to undergo an MRI. Counsell said “the news is not great” with the results of the imaging.
He didn’t want to speculate whether surgery could be a solution to Maton’s knee problem, wanting to first get other opinions. Maton told the Tribune last month he might need to surgically address his knee in the offseason.
“We thought we were in a pretty good place,” Counsell said. “We’re going to get some more opinions and see what that means, but we’re looking at a little bit more of an extended absence here.”
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The reunion with Pomeranz, 37, didn’t last long or have the same level of success the lefty delivered in 2025 with the Cubs. He allowed five runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings (7.94 ERA) while walking four and striking out just one batter in six appearances. Pomeranz had a 2.17 ERA in 57 games for the Cubs in 2025.
“Drew and I have had some fun times together, and it didn’t work out this time,” Counsell said, “but certainly last year and a couple times before that it really has, and I wish him the best.”