Cubs and White Sox fans alike rose to their feet in the fifth inning as the count moved to full with the bases loaded and Mike Tauchman in the batter’s box staring down Joe Kelly on the mound.
Boos swelled when Kelly stepped off the pitching rubber. Gasps reverberated around the stadium when Tauchman fouled a pitch into the netting up the third-base line. And Cubs fans’ cheers rose above the noise when Tauchman drew a game-tying walk.
As the Cubs claimed a 10-7 victory, the second Crosstown Classic game of the year included all the momentum swings a two-team city could ask for. It also featured sloppy defense and free passes on both sides. But for the Cubs, who are clawing back into contention in their division, it was still a win.
“The last six weeks or so we’ve had some decent results, but in particular, some really strong wins in games that really could have gone one way or another,” second baseman Nico Hoerner said earlier this week, pointing to series in Milwaukee and New York. “I think that really gives a group confidence that we can win any game.”
Even a Crosstown Classic game with wild ups and downs.
Cubs starter Marcus Stroman, who entered the game with the fourth-lowest ERA (3.09) among qualified National League pitchers, battled traffic even in the first two innings. A miscue from Cody Bellinger, who appeared to lose track of the count during a pickoff attempt and held the ball to allow for a steal, ended up costing a run.
The Sox took the lead in the fourth inning. Jake Burger led off with a home run. Then bloopers and defensive mistakes compounded the damage for a four-run inning. Stroman left the game with one out in the fourth, having given up a season-high seven runs.
The Cubs, however, were determined to flip the script. They countered the very next inning, taking advantage of hit batsmen, walks and a costly two-out wild pitch on strike three to take an unlikely lead.
Then, they added on with back-to-back homers from Ian Happ and Bellinger in the eighth inning.
With the win, as sloppy as it was, the Cubs pulled themselves to just one game under .500 (50-51). President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer has said all year that he wants to add at the trade deadline, but it has to be the right move for the organization.
“It’s fun for you all to write about and fun for us to be able to make their job challenging,” Swanson said Tuesday night. “We’ve been playing really well recently. I love our at-bats, I love the way we’re playing defense, the way the pitching staff’s going, it’s fun to be part of a collective group that believes in one another and is willing to lay it out there each and every night.”
Cubs players have voiced their confidence in this group in front of recorders and cameras. But that’s not just a public-facing talking point. There’s belief in the clubhouse that they can compete down the stretch, especially with an addition or two.
It’s not a naive group. They’ve touted the hardware in the room — Gold Gloves, an MVP, World Series rings — all season. They also have leaders in the room who have experienced second-half comebacks firsthand.
Yan Gomes and the 2019 Nationals went 24-33 before a June surge that eventually unfolded into a World Series title. Dansby Swanson, Drew Smyly and the 2021 Braves were 49-51 at the 100-game mark — a record identical to the Cubs’ after their win Tuesday — during their championship season.
A week ago, the Cubs’ chances were looking slim. But now? It’s a game that could go either way.
