Of the five Chicago Cubs starting pitchers from the first week of the season, one is out for the season, two are on the injured list and another appears headed for the dreaded list.
Jameson Taillon left Sunday’s 2-1, 10-inning loss to the San Francisco Giants in the second inning with a left hamstring strain. He will undergo an MRI on Monday, but plans to spend time on the IL.
“I’m moving around and walking,” Taillon said after the game. “I don’t think it’s crazy. But you have to take every injury seriously. Obviously it will be an IL stint.
“Hopefully we can keep the arm conditioned and limit it from being too long.”
The injury parade continues for Cubs starting pitchers. Cade Horton and Matthew Boyd are on the shelf with various injuries, while Edward Cabrera came off the injured list on Friday.
Horton is out for the year, but Cubs manager Craig Counsell said that Boyd, who is on the injured list following left meniscus surgery, will be activated during the six-game road trip, which begins Tuesday in Colorado.
Taillon entered the game 2-5 with a 5.13 ERA in 12 starts. His last win was April 29, a 5-4 victory in San Diego. He followed that with four losses and two no-decisions heading into Sunday’s game.
Taillon gave up a run on two hits with a walk in the first inning. But in the second, he walked Matt Chapman and then came out of the game.
“After the 2-2 pitch, it hurt and between pitches I was trying to weigh whether it was worth throwing another pitch,” Taillon said. “When I threw the 3-2 pitch, I felt it a little more. It was nothing I’ve ever felt. Unfortunately, one pitch did it.”
Shota Imanaga is the lone member of the season’s starting five pitchers to avoid going on the injured list.
Chapman drove in his 10th run of the three-game series in the 10th inning off reliever Trent Thornton (2-2) in front of a Wrigley Field crowd of 36,317.
The Cubs (34-32) dropped the series and have not won a series since sweeping the Cincinnati Reds in four games from May 4-7.
Javier Assad, who had been recalled Saturday from Triple-A Iowa, came in for Taillon. He had been up with the Cubs earlier in the season, posting a 3-1 record with a 5.88 ERA in eight appearances, including three starts.
Assad immediately plunked Daniel Susac and faced trouble when Drew Gilbert bunted the runners to second and third.
But Assad got out of the jam when Cubs second baseman Pedro Ramírez threw out Chapman at the plate on a fielder’s choice and Assad struck out Rafael Devers to get out of the jam.
Assad pitched 6 1/3 shutout innings, allowing one hit and striking out five. He left the game in the eighth inning to a loud ovation from the crowd.
“It’s a shame,” Counsell said. “You lose your starter in the (second) and you are like ‘oh, no.’ Then you get an outing like that.
“(Assad) deserves to be the hero tonight. We just couldn’t make enough happen offensively.”
Giants pitcher Trevor McDonald mowed down the first eight Cubs hitters before Carson Kelly, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Moises Ballesteros hit back-to-back-to-back singles to produce a run in the third inning.
The Cubs left the bases loaded in the fourth, and pinch runner Kevin Alcántara was picked off at third base on a double play in the eighth to kill off another rally.
“We get 27 outs and we had other opportunities to score,” Counsell said of the Alcántara gaffe. “It was a factor, obviously. It’s a play you want back. It’s a play we made a mistake on.
“But we also had other pretty good scoring chances.”
The Cubs won 7-6 against the Athletics on Thursday with a four-run ninth inning capped by Pete Crow-Armstrong’s single to bring home Seiya Suzuki.
On Saturday, they won 3-2 in 10 innings as Michael Busch drove in pinch runner Dansby Swanson with a single for their major-league-leading eighth walk-off win.
Before Sunday’s game, Counsell said that while walk-off games are great for the fans, he would rather chalk up a game by a 6-1 score.
The Cubs had two chances for a walk-off win in the ninth and 10th but couldn’t convert.
Cubs trade for Kelly
The Cubs picked up left-handed pitcher Antoine Kelly from the Los Angeles Dodgers in a trade for cash considerations.
The Maine East and Wabash Valley College alum was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the second round of the MLB draft in 2019 and has toiled in the minor leagues with the Brewers, Texas Rangers, Colorado Rockies and the Dodgers.
The 6-foot-6 Kelly is 0-3 with a 5.14 ERA in 23 appearances with Triple-A Oklahoma City this season.
Kelly will report to Triple-A Iowa, Counsell said.
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
