Chicago Cubs right-hander Jameson Taillon wandered over to his fellow starters Colin Rea and Matthew Boyd after exiting Tuesday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley Field in the sixth inning with a two-run deficit.
“We’re going to win this game, aren’t we?” Taillon asked the duo.
“Yeah, we’re going to win this game,” they responded.
The trio was right. The Cubs scored a run in the seventh and eighth innings before Michael Busch hit a walk-off single in the 10th inning, sparking the Cubs to a 3-2 win over the Reds, their seventh straight victory and 13th consecutive at Wrigley Field. The Cubs are 17-3 in their last 20 games, a span that started with a 10-game winning streak. They are 16-5 at home for the first time since 1985.
The Cubs are on such a roll that there’s a confidence they’re never out of a game. Back-to-back walk-off victories will breed the idea that they are going to win every game.
“Obviously, that’s not how it always works, but there is a real feeling and belief right now,” Taillon said. “Again, we’re just winning games in a lot of different ways, which is pretty cool.”
Chicago Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson (7) slides in safely at home to score the game-winning run on a single by teammate Michael Busch in the tenth inning of a game against the Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley Field in Chicago on May 5, 2026. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
Busch’s hit on Tuesday marked the fifth walk-off win by the Cubs this season, following Michael Conforto’s pinch hit home run in Monday’s 5-4 triumph. All five walk-off hits have been collected by a different player: Carson Kelly, Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner have the other three.
“I think that’s a great representation of what we’ve been talking about: the lineup, how much the bench guys have produced, and we can produce up and down the lineup,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said after the game. “That’s a cool stat, absolutely.”
The Cubs, though, know they can’t become complacent with the streak they’re on. It’s early May, and no one is clinching anything anytime soon.
“We’re playing really good baseball, but at the same time, just continue to keep it going and tomorrow’s going to matter just as much as today,” Busch said. “You enjoy it, but also you flush it and get ready for tomorrow, is the mindset. But definitely enjoy it, for sure.”
Happ gives back
Cubs left fielder Ian Happ stood in the seats along the third base line more than three hours before the Cubs’ win against the Reds, answering questions from a group of more than two dozen high school students.
The left fielder, through his Ian Happ Foundation, partners with local organizations to bring children and teens to the Friendly Confines, letting them experience batting practice, go out to dinner before the game and then watch the contest.
Tuesday, it was the baseball teams of a pair of high schools — Farragut in the Little Village neighborhood and Solorio Academy in Gage Park. The teams had participated in the inaugural Chicago Latino Baseball Classic at UIC over the weekend, beating Clemente and Kennedy, respectively.
Happ spent part of his pregame talking with the players from both teams and answering questions before they went onto the field to watch the Cubs and Reds prepare for the game.
“To be able to interact with kids and show them, ‘Hey, the guys on the field care about your development and what you’re doing,’” Happ told the Tribune. “And if they can hear a personal story from me that helps them, then it’s all worth it.”
Happ drew a walk in the ninth inning of Friday’s win, extending his on-base streak to a career-high 26 games. It’s the longest on-base streak by a Cub since Hoerner’s 26-game stretch in 2023. The last Cub to have an on-base streak longer than 26 games was Bryan LaHair’s 30-game run in 2012.
Unique strikeout
Chicago Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya (9) and starting pitcher Jameson Taillon (50) congratulate one another after finishing off the Cincinnati Reds in the third inning of a game at Wrigley Field in Chicago on May 5, 2026. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
Taillon wasn’t totally pleased with his outing on Tuesday. He allowed a pair of runs in 5 2/3 innings, but fell behind hitters, forcing him to throw 100 pitches in the outing and robbing him of the chance to pitch deeper in the game.
But his final out was a bit of a fun moment for the right-hander.
Reds first baseman Sal Stewart was making Taillon grind. He worked back from 0-2 to load the count and grind a 10-pitch at-bat. Taillon tried everything against him — sweeper, sinker, fastball, changeup, cutter.
“I threw a curveball to a righty, which I never do,” Taillon said.
On the 10th pitch, catcher Miguel Amaya called for another changeup — Taillon said he had never thrown that pitch twice to a right-hander before. But the pitch clock was winding down, and the veteran decided to trust his batterymate.
The result was a swinging strikeout eliciting a smile from the often-stoic Taillon.
“That’s why I was smiling cause it was a long at-bat and I didn’t even want to throw the pitch, and I got a strikeout,” Taillon said.
Andy Martinez is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.