Cubs' Jameson Taillon aims to forget most recent outing as Marlins visit

Chicago Cubs right-hander Jameson Taillon was left to lament a porous performance in his most recent outing.

Fresh off allowing a career-high four homers, Taillon will look to keep the ball in the park on Wednesday as the Chicago Cubs vie for a three-game series sweep of the visiting Miami Marlins.

Prior to his generous outing against the New York Mets on Friday, Taillon (2-2, 4.53 ERA) had allowed six homers in his first seven starts of the season.

"Maybe (I'll) just take the next couple of days to evaluate some of the game-planning and execution there," Taillon said after the game, per the Chicago Sun-Times. "They jumped on some pitches. They also wasted and fouled off a lot of good pitches."

All told, Taillon allowed six runs (five earned) on nine hits in a season-low four innings of a 7-2 setback to the Mets.

Taillon, 33, has fared significantly better in his career against Miami, going 3-0 with a 0.83 ERA in four starts.

The Cubs rebounded from a 1-4 stretch by winning the first two contests of the three-game series. Chicago followed up a 5-2 victory on Monday by rallying for three runs in the ninth inning to secure a 5-4 win on Tuesday.

Nico Hoerner had an RBI single before Justin Turner, batting just .169, ripped a two-run double to cap the late uprising on Tuesday.

"It's why we play nine innings," Turner told the Marquee Sports Network. "Quality at-bats up and down the lineup. ... Nico obviously hits a bullet up the middle and gives me an opportunity to be the hero."

Said Chicago manager Craig Counsell: "I'm happy for (Turner). It's not fun watching a great player struggle. But he got a moment, and he did it."

While the Cubs are back on the upswing, the Marlins have lost three in a row and 13 of their past 16 overall.

Left-hander Ryan Weathers (2024: 5-6, 3.63) will make his season debut after being sidelined with a left flexor muscle strain.

Weathers fared well in his third minor-league rehab start. Pitching with Triple-A Jacksonville on Thursday, he allowed just two hits over five shutout innings. He yielded two earned runs on four hits while striking out 13 in 10 2/3 innings in his rehab starts with Jacksonville and Single-A Jupiter.

Weathers, 25, owns a 1-2 record with an 8.27 ERA in five career appearances (four starts) against the Cubs.

On Tuesday, Kyle Stowers belted his team-leading eighth homer and pushed his club-best on-base streak to 12 games.

"He's certainly a calming presence," Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said of Stowers. "Big home run today to get us on the board, take an early lead. I think we've just seen that with Kyle, that his ability to just hang in there within a game and put together high quality at-bats.

"The steady presence with the way he handles himself and how he comes in each day, approaches the process and the preparation aspect of things. Kyle continues ... every night to do something on either side of the ball that helps us."

--Field Level Media