It would have been easy to think silly thoughts and let the Mets’ losing streak get into his head. But Cubs right-hander Jameson Taillon wouldn’t allow it on his drive Saturday to Wrigley Field.
‘‘I wasn’t going to fall into the trap of thinking this was a bad team or a struggling team,’’ Taillon said. ‘‘You look at the names up and down the lineup, I came in here not wanting to be the reason they got hot. I had that conversation with myself.’’
Taillon yielded one run and five hits, struck out four and walked three in six innings and was the winning pitcher in the Cubs’ 4-2 victory, thanks to a three-run home run by pinch hitter Carson Kelly in the sixth. The performance lowered his ERA to a respectable 3.97.
‘‘We’re trending in the right direction,’’ Taillon said. ‘‘I’m still not throwing as many strikes as I’d like, and there were some uncompetitive curveballs, stuff like that. But today was a really good step. I thought the stuff was crispy. The four-seam [fastball] had better carry, and the sweeper got better as we went.’’
Martin next man up in pen
The Cubs selected right-hander Corbin Martin’s contract from Triple-A Iowa to take closer Daniel Palencia’s spot on the active roster. Palencia (strained left oblique) was the 10th Cubs pitcher added to a burgeoning injured list Friday.
Right-hander Cade Horton, who had the makings of a staff ace, was moved to the 60-day IL to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Martin. Horton had Tommy John surgery Thursday.
The Cubs signed Martin, 30, to a minor-league deal for depth during the offseason. In parts of four seasons, he has a 6.54 ERA in 74⅔ innings with the Astros, Diamondbacks and Orioles.
Martin is out of minor-league options and would be exposed to waivers if the Cubs try returning him to Iowa.
Martin, who had Tommy John surgery in 2020 and surgery to repair a lat tendon in 2023, dealt with back spasms after pitching in Iowa’s opener and was out for two weeks before pitching again Tuesday. He allowed one earned run in two innings.
He pitched in eight games during spring training, allowing six earned runs in 7⅔ innings with 10 strikeouts and five walks.
‘‘He pitched two innings in Iowa, so this is need-based,’’ manager Craig Counsell said.
Jacob Webb, Ben Brown and Martin are the only right-handers in the bullpen.
‘‘We’ve had a lot of needs, and we wanted to get a right-hander here, frankly,’’ Counsell said. ‘‘Ideally, he would have pitched more in Iowa after the back injury, but we have a need.’’
PCA not moping
Center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong seems to be keeping his frustration over a .218/.265/.282 batting line to himself. Perhaps playing with multiple stars at the World Baseball Classic helped.
‘‘The WBC was a great experience for Pete in that regard,’’ Counsell said. ‘‘Being around those guys made him understand who he can aspire to be. I see he’s improving at it.’’
But Counsell said he doesn’t want Crow-Armstrong to be anything other than himself, which is someone who plays with his hair on fire.
‘‘There is a lot of good in that we don’t want to acknowledge, and that’s sometimes hard to understand,’’ Counsell said. ‘‘He needs to play with emotion, and we should not try to take that out of him. We should try to get it going in the right direction. It’s too much fun to watch.’’
