Cubs pull back into tie for No. 1 in National League with 6-1 win against White Sox

Mike Tauchman reaching over the fence for a long fly ball during the week leading up to the trade deadline was a familiar sight.

In 2023, when the Cubs were teetering on the buy-sell bubble, his game-saving home-run robbery of the Cardinals’ Alec Burleson at Busch Stadium pushed the Cubs into adding at the trade deadline.

On Saturday, Tauchman was manning right field for the White Sox when Cubs switch hitter Ian Happ hit a long fly ball his way. Tauchman leaped and extended his glove over the wall.

A fan wearing an “MVPCA” shirt, in a nod to Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, reached over the railing and let the ball slip through his waving arms. It hit the railing over the yellow stripe at the top of the wall, out of Tauchman’s reach, for the first run of the game.

“It was a little scary,” Happ said after the Cubs’ 6-1 victory against the Sox. “I thought I got it a hair better than that. I’ve seen him do it before, so I’m glad he couldn’t get to that one.”

The stakes for the Cubs in the days leading up to the trade deadline Thursday aren’t as dire as they were two years ago. The path for the Cubs (61-43) is clear. Sitting in first place in the National League, albeit tied with the Brewers, they’re looking for players — especially pitchers — to add for a playoff push.

In this crosstown series, however, the Cubs appeared to be teetering just before an important matchup in Milwaukee this week.

In the Cubs’ loss Friday, pitching and defense were the issue. This time, the offense went scoreless through the first six innings.

They didn’t even reach base until two outs into the fourth inning, when Seiya Suzuki hit a grounder through the right side of the infield for a single.

As the top of the order came up for the third time, to lead off the sixth inning, the Sox turned from starter Aaron Civale to their bullpen.

Then two Cubs hitters who had been slumping before the All-Star break came through.

“Been having good at-bats, hitting the ball hard and not getting a lot of results,” said Happ, who went 2-for-3 with a walk.

“It’s nice to stack a couple of hits in a game. I don’t know when the last time I got two to fall in one game was. The at-bats, and then to get that kind of reassurance feels good.”

After Happ’s home run in the seventh inning off reliever Jordan Leasure broke the scoreless tie, Matt Shaw tacked on a two-run blast. Shaw has hit in every game since the All-Star break. His homer Saturday was his fourth in that span.

“Playing free and really having a lot of fun has been really huge for me,” Shaw said. “The All-Star break was nice to get some perspective and take a step back, and then just coming back and really just enjoying playing.”

The next inning, Dansby Swanson lined a bases-loaded single into left field to drive in two runs. Then Sox reliever Dan Altavilla walked the next two batters to push another run across.

Cubs starting pitcher Cade Horton held up his end of the bargain, tossing 6⅓ scoreless innings. He held the Sox to four hits and only let two baserunners reach scoring position.

“I didn’t feel like that was my best command with my off-speed,” Horton said, “but I was able to locate fastballs and just keep them off-balance. When runners got on, I was able to just focus on the next pitch and execute it.”

Cubs left-handed reliever Caleb Thielbar and right-hander Brad Keller combined for 1⅔ scoreless innings. Veteran Ryan Pressly gave up a solo home run to Tauchman in the ninth inning for the Sox’ only run, then finished the game without further damage.

A game that had begun with a concerning lack of action from the Cubs’ offense turned into a well-rounded victory.