SAN DIEGO — Jameson Taillon spent part of Wednesday morning giving an impromptu concert with guitars stashed in the visitors’ clubhouse at Petco Park.
Given how well he pitched, setting down the first 14 batters in order, surviving two solo homers, and then allowing just one more hit in seven innings of the Cubs’ 5-4 victory over the Padres, should we expect an encore from the music man?
“No, there’s no guitars anywhere else other than here,’’ Taillon said. “So we’re safe.
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“They’re Taylor guitars, really, really nice, actually. I mean, I haven’t played in like 10 years, but I used to play a bunch, and I know about 4½ songs.’’
His signature tune?
“3AM by Matchbox Twenty,’’ he said.
Fourteen up, fourteen down is generally too early to be thinking about 27 up, 27 down. Taillon was aware that no one had reached base. “More than anything, I was aware I had good stuff today and good command, good pitch mix,’’ he said.
The Cubs and Padres played each other in a NL wild-card series last October, the Cubs taking two out of three, with all three games played in Wrigley because the Cubs finished with a better regular season record. Taking two out of three in Petco, and finishing 3-3 in this six-game trip against the best in the West, the Dodgers and Padres, even if it’s April, made for a satisfying flight home.
Ben Brown a
This story originally appeared in Chicago Sun-Times.
