Mike Tauchman’s first walk-off home run could not have been scripted much better.
Roughly 25 miles from where he grew up in Palatine, in a crosstown rivalry game against the White Sox, Tauchman — a metronome in the Cubs lineup the last two years — seized the moment. He led off the bottom of the ninth and sent a fastball from Sox closer Michael Kopech into the center-field bleachers to complete a 7-6 comeback victory for the second straight night.
“Every kid dreams of hitting a walk-off home run, so to have that moment, it’s special,” Tauchman said. “It’s something that, when it’s all said and done, I’ll look back on it and I’ll always have that to be able to smile about.”
Tauchman kept his approach simple. He anticipated Kopech would rely heavily on his four-seam fastball, which accounts for 78.3% of his pitches thrown this season.
“In that situation, trying to be ready for anything else is foolish,” Tauchman explained.
Kopech, conversely, expects major-league hitters to know he predominantly goes to his fastball. Both armed with that knowledge, Tauchman bested Kopech on a 1-0, 98.4 mph fastball to set off the Cubs faction among the 40,073 fans packed into Wrigley Field.
The Sox (15-47) failed to hold on after again producing a big inning against the Cubs — a four-run fourth that put them up 5-1.
“Tough pill to swallow, yeah, of course. It’s not fun,” said Sox starter Erick Fedde, who allowed three runs in five innings. “These games, they mean a lot. I know we haven’t given Sox fans a ton to cheer about this year, and these games, at least to me, this was my most important game of the season up to this point. Wanted to be a little better, battled, but it sucks we lost.”
For the Sox, their futility becomes more stark with each defeat. Their 13th consecutive loss tied the franchise’s single-season record from 1924 while setting the worst 62-game start.
Photos: Cubs beat White Sox 7-6 in Game 2 of the City Series at Wrigley Field
“I can’t tell you how proud I am of these guys,” Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “These guys are playing good baseball and they are giving us everything they got and that’s what I ask them to do every day. Play as hard as you can and that’s what they are doing.
“There’s nobody to blame here. Everybody here in this locker room is busting their ass to win a baseball game and get back on track.”
The back-to-back comeback victories represented the first time the Cubs rallied from at least four runs down in consecutive games against the same team since June 16-17, 1975, versus the Philadelphia Phillies, according to team historian Ed Hartig.
“There’s no drawing up anything here,” manager Craig Counsell said. “You just try to win the game and do it as it presents itself. We battled.”
Both teams combined for fireworks, making it the first Cubs game that featured a home run on the first and last pitch since May 21, 1987, against the Cincinnati Reds (Tracy Jones and Bob Dernier), per Elias Sports Bureau.
The Sox saw their two-run advantage slip away during the seventh in a sequence befitting a 15-47 team.
The bevy of bad plays included a hit by pitch, a balk — the Sox’s second of the game — and a run-scoring wild pitch on a walk, fueling a three-run inning that put the Cubs ahead 6-5.
The inning started poorly for right-hander Michael Soroka. His first pitch hit Dansby Swanson, and Yan Gomes followed with just his second walk in 84 plate appearances this season. With Tauchman at the plate, Soroka committed a balk to advance Swanson and Gomes. Tauchman’s 11-pitch battle, including five consecutive full-count foul balls, ended with the wild pitch on ball four to score Swanson and cut the Sox lead to 5-4.
Cubs starter Jameson Taillon, who surrendered five runs, including four in the fourth, enjoyed watching Tauchman battle.
“Tauch’s a dog,” Taillon said. “Every time he’s up there, you know he’s going to have a tough AB. You know he’s going to be prepared.
“Just a cool story, someone everyone should feel really comfortable rooting for. … Really cool to see him getting an opportunity and getting these moments for his hometown team. I mean, it’s kind of like a movie.”
Cody Bellinger’s one-out sacrifice fly brought home Gomes to tie it in the seventh, and Ian Happ delivered the big hit for the second night in a row with a go-ahead RBI single to center.
The lead didn’t last one pitch, however. For the second straight night, the Sox pounced on right-hander Hayden Wesneski immediately after falling behind late. Wesneski left a sweeper over the middle of the plate, and Paul DeJong slugged it for a tying leadoff homer in the eighth.
The Cubs staged their comeback without second baseman Nico Hoerner. He received his first career ejection for arguing with plate umpire Vic Carapazza after a called third strike in the fourth. Hoerner watched the walk-off victory in the batting cage so he could get the live, high home-plate feed.
“There’s something special about Wrigley obviously that we’re all aware of and having seen special things here,” Hoerner said, “and I think that’s a real home advantage to be in a place that you have unwavering support from fans that are going to hold you to a high standard but also there to really cheer you on and root for something special to happen.
“We’ve seen it happen time and time again here, and I think there’ll be more moments like that.”
