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Chicago Cubs’ Mike Tauchman hits a solo home run off New York Mets relief pitcher Drew Smith in the eighth inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
QUEENS — Mike Tauchman’s eighth-inning solo home run off reliever Drew Smith lifted the Chicago Cubs to a 3-2 victory over the New York Mets on Tuesday night at Citi Field.
Smith, who had gone seven straight outings without allowing a run, was taken out the other way over the left-center field fence with one out in the eighth of a 2-2 game after Cubs erased an early two-run deficit.
Much of that was thanks to Chicago starting pitcher Jameson Taillon and a befuddling cutter, which shut down the Mets (51-62) after allowing a first-inning two-run home run by the red-hot Pete Alonso. The former Yankee-turned-Cub went seven strong innings, allowing just three hits with seven strikeouts headlined by a stretch between the second and seventh innings in which he retired 16 batters in succession.
“I don’t want to get too technical, but it’s a ride cutter that you don’t see much,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said of Taillon’s pitch. “It’s a different look. When you hear people talk about a backup slider, it’s kind of an unusual pitch… It’s something that’s almost supposed to break like a cutter but it gains height.
“That presented an issue for us and we went quite a while without getting a hit.”
Mark Vientos ended the drought to lead off the eighth inning with a single off Cubs reliever Julian Merryweather. He moved to third on a Brandon Nimmo single but with two outs and the tying run 90 feet away, Jeff McNeil grounded out to end the inning.
For the Cubs (59-55), the win draws them back into a tie for the final National League Wild Card spot with their NL Central rivals, the Cincinnati Reds.
Alonso got the lone Mets…
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