Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (7/26/26): Pirates 8, Cubs 7 – TaiLLon Rocked Again
The Cubs’ attempt to complete a sweep of the Pirates came up short at PNC Park Sunday afternoon. For a second consecutive start, Jameson Taillon put his team in a hole they could not climb out of to win.
Chicago grabbed the lead on an RBI single from Dansby Swanson against Braxton Ashcraft in the top of the 2nd. Pittsburgh answered back in the bottom of the frame with a pair of homers off of Taillon. Esmerlyn Valdez hit a solo shot to tie it, and rookie catcher Shawn Ross blasted a go-ahead two-run dinger for his first career hit.
The Bucs added major insurance in the bottom of the 3rd when Ryan O’Hearn hit a grand slam that just barely made it into the first row of the right field bleachers to increase the margin to 7-1. The North Siders responded in the top of the 4th, with Pedro Ramírez singling home one and Pete Crow-Armstrong tripling in another to cut the deficit to 7-4.
The Pirates scored what would eventually be a very important run when Valdez had an RBI single against Ryan Rolison that made it 8-4 in the bottom of the 5th. The Cubs got that one back when Nico Hoerner plated Michael Busch with a base knock in the 8th.
Chicago made things very interesting when Seiya Suzuki hit a two-run homer off of Mason Montgomery in the top of the 9th. That would be it for the comeback attempt, however, as the Pittsburgh reliever retired the next two hitters to preserve an 8-7 victory. (Box score)
Key Moment
The grand slam by O’Hearn was obviously huge for this game, and it also turned up the volume on questions about Taillon’s ability to remain in the rotation.
Why the Cubs Lost
A bad outing by the starting pitcher was the difference on Sunday despite a pretty good effort by the offense.
Stats That Matter
- A very rough year for Taillon continued in this one: 4 IP, 7 R, 6 H, 3 K, and 2 BB.
- Busch had a single, double, and a walk.
- Swanson and Ramírez each had two singles and an RBI.
Bottom Line
Taillon is just not a viable major league starter right now, and the Cubs cannot keep putting him out there every five days. They need to make some kind of move, either externally or internally, to address this situation. An organization competing for a playoff spot should not be wasting so many games.
On Deck
Chicago heads to St. Louis for four games against the rival Cardinals starting Monday at 6:45pm CT. David Peterson gets the start in a contest televised on Marquee with a radio feed on The Score.
