Two pitchers with something to prove will take the mound Tuesday night as the Chicago Cubs host the Texas Rangers in the second matchup of their three-game interleague series.
Texas will send out left-hander Patrick Corbin (0-0, 0.00 ERA), a reclamation project, while Chicago counters with right-hander Jameson Taillon (1-1, 6.97 ERA).
The Cubs took Game 1 of the series with a dominant 7-0 win on Monday night, battling through frigid, windy conditions. Michael Busch, Kyle Tucker, and Seiya Suzuki each collected two hits for Chicago, while Justin Steele was stellar on the mound, giving up only three singles over seven shutout innings to improve to 3-1.
Texas struggled offensively, failing to advance a runner past second base the entire game.
The Cubs racked up 10 hits in the opener, highlighted by a double and a triple from Michael Busch, and knocked Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi out of the game with two outs in the fifth inning. It was a stark contrast to Eovaldi’s previous outing, where he tossed a 1-0 complete-game shutout against the Cincinnati Reds.
Kyle Higashioka accounted for two of Texas’ three hits on the night, as the Rangers saw their five-game winning streak come to an end.
Two-time All-Star Patrick Corbin has been called up from Triple-A Round Rock to replace the injured Jack Leiter, who is sidelined with a blister on his right middle finger. Corbin, who went 6-13 with a 5.62 ERA over 32 starts for Washington last season, signed a one-year deal with Texas in March.
Opting to prepare for the season in the minors rather than pitch in spring training, Corbin said he feels ready to compete despite the abbreviated buildup.
“I’ve been telling them I feel pretty good,” Corbin said Sunday. “This feels a bit like my first year in D.C., where there were some veteran guys at the top of the rotation. That’s the kind of team you want to be a part of—just like this one—where you get to pitch in those big games.”
Jameson Taillon is set to make his third start of the season on Tuesday, having logged 10 1/3 innings and eight strikeouts over his first two outings. His most recent performance was his strongest yet, allowing two runs on four hits and three walks while striking out seven over six innings in the Cubs’ 10-2 win over the Athletics last Wednesday.
Taillon has been working on incorporating a changeup into his repertoire and saw promising results in that outing, recording four strikeouts with the pitch.
“It’s no secret other teams stack lineups with lefties against me,” Taillon said after the win in Sacramento. “It’s on me to find a way to punch back and show that I can get lefties out and limit slug and all of that. So the changeup for me could be a really good pitch. It’s just having the ability to not be so predictable.”
Jameson Taillon holds a 1-1 record with a 6.23 ERA in his career against the Rangers, while Patrick Corbin boasts a 5-2 record with a 4.48 ERA against the Cubs.
Snow was expected overnight, and cold temperatures are anticipated to continue for both Tuesday night’s game and the series finale on Wednesday afternoon.
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