Cubs' Early Spark is Enough For 4-3 Win, Series Victory

Things got a little chaotic in the third inning. A Jake Meyers sacrifice bunt with two men on ended up as an E3, with a high Jameson Taillon throw getting away from Busch. Jon Singleton scored on the play to give the Astros their first run. 

Alex Bregman singled in the next at-bat to score Victor Caratini. The ball glanced off of Jameson Taillon's glove and got away from Nico Hoerner to make it 4-2. Luckily for the Cubs, that's all the Astros would get. 

The Astros threatened again in the eighth. Ultimately, Mark Leiter Jr. played the "Houdini" role for the Cubs and avoided any damage. Houston was able to work multiple base runners on, but the Cubs got the right bounces to escape the jam. Leiter Jr. got Meyers swinging to end the threat. 

In the ninth, Jose Altuve decided to make things interesting. Off Hector Neris, Altuve crushed his sixth home run of the season to make it a one-run game. 

Neris executed outs via a Bregman groundout, a Yordan Alvarez strikeout, and a Kyle Tucker lineout to earn his second save and secure the Cubs' 4-3 win. 

A Near-Character Win

At Cubs On Tap, we have the "Character Wins" category established by co-host Juice. Character Wins are wins that standout because the Cubs defeated adversity and pulled a huge win out of their hat. Tuesday was against an inferior opponent in the Astros and, as established by Juice and Joey Ricotta on Wednesday's Cubs On Tap show, it was not a Character Win. 

That said, it felt pretty close. 

The Cubs are facing adversity after losing Cody Bellinger to the IL. Now, Seiya Suzuki, Justin Steele, and Bellinger are all unavailable. In addition, Ian Happ is not fully healthy, and Christopher Morel may also be hurt given his latest cold stretch. Nonetheless, they continue to battle and give their best, improving to 15-9 on the season with Wednesday's win. 

Jameson Taillon pitched a strong 5.2 innings for the Cubs on Wednesday. He worked out of jams and is providing some stability in the rotation. If he and Jordan Wicks can continue giving 6.0 innings, they'll go far once Justin Steele returns. Wicks is coming off his first quality start of the season and Taillon has been really good in his first two outings of the year. 

Despite a bullpen full of question marks, Craig Counsell pulled all the right levers to get the bullpen through the game and give the Cubs the tough win. 

What's On Tap Next?

The Cubs and Astros will need to bounce back quickly as Thursday features a 1:20 p.m. CDT start. On getaway day, Justin Verlander takes the mound for Houston and Javier Assad throws for the Cubbies. 

Cubs On Tap will follow the game tying a bow on the series while looking ahead to the Boston Red Sox series this weekend.